Two Worlds, One Soul
by Zoray Zorial
Summary: Through a mishap with the Eternal Sword, the ToS company finds itself on Earth, unable to return. To make it worse, an enemy from Kratos' past has resurfaced, and he's out for veangence. Complete. Epilogue fixed!
1. Beginnings

**Greetings, all!**

**This is my first-ever fanfic, so please take that into consideration. This story was inspired by another I read here, so I apologize in advance in case I accidentally steal anything. Please let me know if I do.**

**Summary – Lloyd is screwing around with the eternal sword and accidentally rips the fabric of time and space, sucking himself, Genis, Kratos, and Raine through to our world.**

**Disclaimer - I DO NOT own the wondrous characters or story of ToS. That honor belongs to NAMCO. I am simply borrowing them for the use of harmless creative writing.**

**Enough with my rambling. On with the story.**

**Note –**

**"Blah Blah Blah" – Speaking**

**_Blah Blah Blah_ – Thoughts **

**(Blah Blah Blah) – Me!**

**Two Worlds, One Soul**

* * *

_Symphonia, near Iselia_

Lloyd was bored. It was an average day at his house, meaning there was absolutely nothing to do but get his butt kicked by Kratos in sword practice, something he had no intention of doing. He finished sharpening his already razor-edged blades and began to apply a polishing cloth to the already gleaming steel. He looked across the yard for something to take his mind off the monotony.

Colette was throwing a dull chakram for Noishe, and Genis was absorbed in a new spellbook, muttering the ancient words under his breath as Raine looked on. Zelos had gone into town, probably to visit his new 'hunnies'. Sheena, disgusted with the Chosen, had gone deep into the woods to meditate. Regal was inside the house somewhere, doing god knows what. Dirk was hammering away at something or other in his forge, and Kratos was nowhere to be seen.

That was never a good sign.

A small breeze rippled across Lloyd's face. He knew where Kratos was. Immediately throwing the cloth aside, he grasped the hilts of his swords and leapt up.

"Rising Falcon!" he cried, leaping into the air, and rushing toward the angel lunging through the air toward the spot he had just vacated. He smacked into Kratos with the flats of his blades, finally taking his father off guard.

"Good work, Lloyd." said Kratos.

"You gave yourself away, Dad. The 'wind under your wings', I believe the saying is."

Kratos barely hid his reaction to being called 'Dad'. Normally, that was reserved for Dirk. "I was testing you."

"Yeah, sure. All that matters was that I got you."

Kratos' small smile disappeared instantly. "No it is NOT all that matters. I could have counterattacked, and you lowered your guard as soon as you hit the ground. You still have a ways to go. Why don't you practice some more?"

Lloyd sighed. It seemed that every time he made any progress, Kratos only had reprimands for him.

"I'll work on it, Kratos. I promise."

"Good. I'm going out for a walk." With that, he opened his wings and flew off.

Lloyd harrumphed. "Huh. Some walk." He went back to his polishing.

* * *

Kratos flew high above Iselia, letting the cool breeze wash over his body as he thought. 

_I probably shouldn't be so harsh on him… _he mused_. I only want to help him…I don't know what else to do. He masters the techniques easily, but he's so reckless sometimes. It drives me insane…doesn't he realize that that carelessness could get him killed? I couldn't take it if I lost him too…I'm such a hopeless father…_

He stared down beneath him and saw a speck of red sitting by the stream next to Dirk's house.

_Lloyd…_

* * *

Lloyd stared moodily into the stream from his precarious perch on a mossy rock. Looking skyward, he saw a glint of sapphire and violet against the wispy clouds. 

_Kratos…Dad. Why are you never satisfied? What am I doing wrong? I just want to become a better swordsman…I suppose I'm just so much your inferior, having lived four thousand years less than you…_(A/N – Insert heavy sigh here) _I…I'm sorry, Kratos…I know I don't always listen, I know you're just trying to help me to stay safe, to stay alive…Oh Martel, I'm such a hopeless son…_

* * *

Later that evening, Lloyd was sitting on some rocks in his backyard with Kratos, Raine and Genis, waiting for dinner. Colette had volunteered to help Regal make it, and the smell wafting out of the house was making their mouths water. Raine had offered to help, but Genis wouldn't let her, older sister or not. 

Lloyd reached a hand out and grasped apparently at thin air, and made a motion like drawing a sword. Like the magic it was, the Eternal Sword appeared in his grasp. Raine nearly fell over in shock. Genis actually did.

"What th-" Genis stuttered, "where did that come from?"

"Indeed. I had thought it disappeared after Sylvarant and Tethe'alla were rejoined," said Kratos, his raised eyebrows the only thing giving away his surprise at the sudden reappearance of the worlds-saving artifact.

Raine was ecstatic. "Amazing! Now I can actually get a chance to study that, it's the most wondrous artifact I've ever seen, it holds so much power…" Lloyd and Genis automatically tuned her out as she began to ramble on about the legends and powers of the Eternal Sword. Lloyd sighed. She had gone into Archeological Mania Mode; there was no stopping her now.

"To tell the truth, Kratos, I don't really know. I was just thinking about it, and all of a sudden, it just appeared!"

"Maybe it's responding to your will! You are the Master of the Pact, after all." suggested Genis, as Raine finally began to finish up her rant.

"That's cool. Maybe it can liven things up around here. It's so boring now that we don't have to go out and save a world or two!" he closed his eyes and assumed a look of concentration.

"Hey Lloyd, don't think to hard, you'll hurt yourself!" Said Genis, cracking up as he said it.

"Why you little-" shouted Lloyd, "I'm gonna…" he raised the sword in mock fury, weaving it through a series of complex maneuvers over Genis' head.

"Lloyd, I would be very careful with that," said Kratos warningly, "We don't know the extent of it's powers, or how to control them. You never know-" There was a great flash of light, reality seemed to warp around them, and Symphonia faded away. It was replaced by something very different.

"-When something might happen…" he said, just before unconsciousness claimed them all.

* * *

_Earth, The USA, New York_

Aaron was sitting in his living room, having just defeated Mithos for the umpteenth time, when he heard a loud crack outside his house accompanied by a bright flash of white light.

"—When something might happen…" a voice that sounded oddly familiar said from his backyard.

Aaron rushed to his window…and ran back to his TV. Several times. There was no question. Either these people were the greatest look-alikes in the history of mankind, or four of the characters from the greatest RPG ever made were lying facedown on his deck. He whipped out his cell phone and hit a number on speed dial. Kyle's not going to believe this…

-- TO BE CONTINUED --

* * *

**Please R&R, I want to know if this looks promising enough to continue (having never written one of these before). I apologize for any OOC-ness. I will try my best to prevent it from happening. Please R&R, and please no flaming! Thanks!**


	2. Introductions

**Hello again!**

**Here's the second installment of my Symphonia/Earth crossover. Sorry I took awhile to update, I've had no time. Thanks to all who reviewed.**

**Sichugirl – I plan on it! Heh, heh. Poor Kratos. It won't be just him, either…**

**Ok, moving on, it's disclaimer time. I do not own any bit of the ToS story or characters. Only my story, and my characters.**

**…Man, I am tired this morning. At any rate, let's get this chapter over with before I pass out from exhaustion.**

**A/N – There is a reference to Inkheart in this chapter. If you don't get it, read the book. Good book, you should read it anyways. I don't feel like explaining the whole thing here, so go read it yourself.**

**TWO WORLDS, ONE SOUL**

**

Chapter 2 - Introductions

**

* * *

"You mean to tell me that you have the _real_ Tales characters unconscious on your deck?" Kyle asked incredulously. 

"You think I would lie to you?"

"You have a point there. I'll be right over." Kyle hung up.

Aaron hung up, and turned toward his window.

"Holy crap! What if someone sees them!" he quickly opened the door and dashed over to our heroes.

"They look exactly like they do in the game…Sweet! I wonder if their wings are really made of light, or if they're feathers or something…" Aaron talked to himself as he slung Genis over his shoulder and grabbed the back of Lloyd's collar and dragged him inside. He laid the two of them out on his couch and went back outside. As he was trying to figure out how to lift the very heavy Kratos, Kyle came flying up the driveway on his motorcycle, his hair streaming out behind him.

"Hey Kyle! Give me a hand up here! Kratos is heavy!" Aaron yelled down to his best friend. Kyle took the deck stairs three at a time, then skidded to a halt when he saw whose weight Aaron was struggling to lift.

"Would you please pick up your jaw and then pick up Kratos? My legs are going to give out any second!"

"Oh right, sorry." The pair of them got under Kratos' arms and hoisted him into the house. "But seriously, how often do you get to meet the character from your favorite videogame live and in person?"

Aaron stopped to think about that. How _had_ they gotten here? Was it a random galactic fluke, or had it been something else? "I'll bet that Lloyd was just screwing around with the Eternal Sword and just sent himself here by accident." He mused.

"Hah! What are the chances of that? I'm gonna go get Raine. You wake up the others." With that, Kyle headed back out to the deck.

Aaron wondered what the best way to wake them was. Not cold water, he didn't feel like cleaning the carpet, and they might be a little mad. A light bulb went on above his head.

"Oh, sorry. Hit the switch by mistake," said Kyle, walking in with Raine in his arms.

"I'd be really careful, if I were you. If she were to wake up now…" as if he had cursed it by saying it aloud, Raine stirred and opened her eyes. With her blurred vision, she saw only Kyle's long red hair and one thing registered.

"ZELOOOOOOOOS! Put me down, you filthy pervert!" There was a resounding smack, and Kyle reeled back against the wall, holding his face. Raine's scream had awakened the other three, and they sat up, rubbing their heads.

"Ooh, my aching head…" said Lloyd "What happened?"

"You happened, moron. Where the heck did you send us?" said Genis grumpily.

"Hell if I know." said Lloyd. Seeing Aaron for the first time, he exclaimed, "Who the heck are you?"

A thought tempted Aaron. He couldn't resist. "Give me your name, and I'll give you mine," he said, with more than a slight smirk on his face. Kratos, finally awake, noticed something odd about his smirk. He had an 'I know something you don't know' look about him. The seraphim was worried.

"Hey, that's my line!" said Lloyd, annoyed.

"Oh, we know that." Added Kyle from the corner, as he tried to fend off a furious Raine.

"Cut it out, Raine. That's not Zelos." Aaron said angrily. The Symphonia company reeled.

"How do you know who Zelos is?" asked Lloyd.

"And more importantly, how do you know me?" said Raine, still yelling at the top of her lungs.

"Would you please calm down? I'll answer all of your questions, and you can probably answer a few of mine." Aaron began. "Now, please. Sit down."

Kratos, Raine, and Lloyd took seats on the couch. Genis sprawled out on the floor.

"All right, here we go. You are no longer on Sylvarant. You are not on Tethe'alla either. Oh, I'm Aaron, By the way. The gentleman you so unkindly slapped, Professor, is my good friend Kyle. There's no need for introductions on your part, we both know all of you a lot better that you think. You…" he said, indicating Kratos, "are a 4,000+ year old angel named Kratos Aurion, former member of the Four Seraphim of Cruxis, an ancient hero of the Kharlan War,and just so happen to be that father of that young man in red over there."

Kratos' face drained of all color. "How in hell do you know that?"

Aaron sighed. "Didn't I tell you that I would be getting to that? At any rate, aforementioned young man in red over there is Lloyd Irving, son of Kratos and Anna Aurion, the Eternal Swordsman, and current master of the pact with Origin. You-" he motioned to Genis "are Genis Sage, younger brother to Professor Raine over there, both of you are half-elves, kicked out of heimdall and banished to Sylverant… Kyle, do me a favor and keep her where I can see her, I don't want her dismantling my house."

"Heh. That's the professor all right," said Lloyd, apparently not caring that this man knew so many things about him. Raine smacked him.

"Now, to explain how I, or rather, we know so much about you guys. Not just you five either…we both know lots about Colette, Regal, Sheena, Presea, Zelos, Mithos, Yuan, Botta, et cetera et cetera. We know about the Eternal Sword, the world regeneration, Yggdrasil, Marte, Derris-Kharlanl, and the Great Seed too." Added Kyle, having finally convinced Raine he was not doing was she initially thought he was. "I don't want to sound superior or anything, but…people in our world created everything in yours. Every little bit."

"You're lying." said Lloyd flatly.

"Your people certainly have a high opinion of themselves." Kratos said coldly.

"Who do you think you are, anyways?" objected Genis.

"It's simply impossible." Said Raine indignantly, "We all know that the world was created by the goddess Martel and…"

"Raine…Shut up." Aaron said. "I have told you, I'm going to explain everything. He dodged Raine's flying slap and got her in a headlock.

"Kyle, would you kindly hit the power button on my Gamecube?"

"Sure, buddy." Skirting the struggling but immobile Raine, he pressed the button. As the opening movie started, the company's eyes go wider and wider.

"That's…that's…Can it be possible?"

"What the hell…"

"Interesting…very interesting…"

" Cooooooooooool!" Raine smacked Lloyd with her free leg.

Kyle spoke up. "Look. This is a computer-generated game. Created and programmed by people in our world. Either we somehow miraculously created this thing precisely to the standards of some real alternate universe…"

"You know, Kyle, that's actually not to hard to believe. You ever read Inkheart?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with-"

Aaron cut him off. "Fenoglio said that the world he created in his novel had already existed, he just catalogued a section of it in his book."

Genis got it first. "So, your people just made the videogame and it changed a section of what happens in our world?"

"I suppose that's the best way o put it. We didn't create you. Sorry if I sounded arrogant or anything." Said Kyle.

"You are forgiven. I see how you might think that. This is very true to reality." Kratos said.

"Thank you." Said Kyle. "Now, I've got one question. How the heck did you guys get here?"

"Well, uh…I sorta…um, what I mean is…" stammered a very flustered Lloyd.

Aaron sighed. "Let me guess." He said "You, Lloyd, got bored with the monotony of a saved world, and decided to use the Eternal Sword to create some excitement, and accidentally brought yourself and your friends to our world. How, you're not quite sure, but it's happened nonetheless."

"Yeah, you pretty much got it." Said Genis.

"Hey…where's the Professor?" asked Lloyd.

Aaron blanched. "Raine…loose…in our dimension…in my house…" he whipped around to face the Symphonians. "FIND HER! BEFORE SHE FINDS ANYTHING!" Lloyd and Genis stared at him blankly. Comprehending him, Kratos rushed off. Knowing Raine, she would love to dismantle anything of this world's technology she could get her hands on.

Suddenly, Aaron heard what could possibly be the worst thing in the world.

"Oh! Amazing! I must see how this works!"

* * *

**What has Raine found? What will happen next? Will they ever get home? And what's happened to the ones left behind in Symphonia? You'll only find out if you review, cause I won't write more until you do!**


	3. Discoveries

**Greetings, my faithful readers!**

**In this chapter, you will find out not only what Raine's gotten her hands on, but you will see Lloyd's _attempt_ (hinthint) to get them home, as well as the discovery that they are gone from Symphonia.**

**Thanks to all reviewers, death to those who didn't.**

**For the disclaimer…say hello to Yuan!**

**Yuan: Where the heck am I?**

**Zoray: You are in my domain. You will do as I say, do you understand? (evil author glare of instant obedience)**

**Yuan: must…resist…oh, it's no use. Zoray owns nothing of Tales. Just this very twisted plot. **

**Zoray: Thank you…(starting in realization) Hey!**

**Yuan: Anytime, my lord.**

**Zoray: As a reward (smirks), you can do the disclaimer for every chapter from now till the end of this fanfic!**

**Yuan: Oh, lucky me. (Wanders off grumbling)**

**TWO WORLDS, ONE SOUL**

**Chapter III – Discoveries**

* * *

Aaron and Kratos dashed into the kitchen to find Raine tugging frantically at the light switch. 

"Aah! Raine! Get away from there!" yelled Aaron.

"But…but…IT"S SO FASCINATING!" she yelled, flicking the switch on and off like the madwoman she was, dazzling Kratos with the strobelike effect. "HOW DOES IT WORK!" Kratos, having recovered his vision, aided Aaron in hauling Raine bodily away from the wall. Kyle came in with Genis and Lloyd.

"I can see only one solution to our 'Raine's insatiable curiosity' problem." Said Kyle. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked Aaron with a mischievous look in his eye.

"I read you loud and clear, my friend." Replied Aaron, nodding sagely, and went to get his duct tape.

* * *

Approximately three and a half minutes later, Raine was securely bound to one of Aaron's kitchen chairs.

"Not quite what I meant…but it works." said Kyle.

Lloyd was about to put a gag over Raine's mouth, but Kyle stopped him.

"We can put up with her mouth. We don't need to cause her any unnecessary humiliation."

Lloyd cocked his head and opened his mouth, but closed it and just shrugged. "Seems pretty necessary to me…" he muttered.

"Raine…please just calm down. Although this may seem drastic measures, I just want to keep my house and its technology intact. You wanted to know how the lights work…"

**(A/N – I just decided to spare you the boredom of having Aaron and Kyle explain the various technologies in the average Earthling household)**

"…and that's how the phone works." Kyle finished. He looked sideways at Aaron. "Is that everything?"

"The TV, Gamecube, and computer I believe"

**(A/N – more boring explanations. I think you get the point. Moving on…)**

"I'm impressed the level of your technology without using a bit of magitecnology…"commented Genis.

"Although some parts are very similar…" continued Raine, "I noted you never mentioned Teleporters. I take it you haven't created functional one yet?"

"Correct. The one we have can only move atoms. As far as I'm aware, you don't know anything about actual space travel…" said Kyle.

"Unless you count Derris-Kharlan, but even that utilizes teleportation…" added Kratos.

"You know…as interesting as our world may be, I'm sure you guys would love to go home…" said Aaron.

The company murmured its assent.

"So, Lloyd, why don't you fire up the Eternal Sword and take them home?" said Kyle.

"All righty then! Here goes…" he squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated. Five minutes passed.

"Any day now would be fine, Lloyd." Said Genis.

"Hey, shut up! Would YOU like to do this?" growled Lloyd.

"Point taken,"

After ten more minutes, Lloyd gave up. "I don't get it. I'm visualizing the Sword appearing in my hands like I did last time, but nothing's happening…"

"Perhaps it could be the fact that there is a dimensional barrier between you and Origin, and his power cannot reach you to activate the Sword?" suggested Kyle.

Aaron and Kratos nodded their agreement.

"In that case…I guess we're stuck here until the others notice we're gone and come to rescue us…" said Genis.

"Wonderful! The perfect opportunity to study this world's technology!" cried Raine.

"Wonderful! The perfect chance to play a videogame starring myself!" cried Lloyd._ Smack. _"Ow! What was that for?"

Aaron sighed._Wonderful_. This was just getting better all the time…

* * *

_Symphonia_

"Alright, everyone! Dinner's ready!" Colette called. No one answered, not even with angelic hearing could she hear a response. "Odd… where could they be?" She looked out into the yard, but there was no one. "Regal? Dirk? Do you know where Lloyd and the others are?"

"I cannot say that I do. I thought they were outside." Came Regal's voice from the kitchen.

"Neh, I dunno where any of 'em are. I've been in me forge all day." Dirk's voice said from the forge.

"Oh well. I'll just go and look for them myself!" Colette said in her eternally cheerful tone. She headed off into the woods to look for Lloyd and the others. In hindsight, a very bad idea.

--- Hours later ---

"Where the heck could they have gone?" said a mystified (and completely lost) Colette. "LLOYD! LLOOOOOOOOOYD!" she cried into the night air, "WHERE ARE YOU?"

…………

"CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?"

…………

"WHERE AM I?"

Only silence answered her.

* * *

Sheena snapped out of her reverie with a shock. Grumbling to herself, she picked up her guardian cards and glared up at the sky, as if it was somehow their fault she had been disturbed. With a final muttering, she vanished in a puff on ninja-smoke to see what Colette was screaming about this time.

* * *

Zelos was walking up the trail to Dirk's house, when Colette's cry pierced the air.

"Ah! One of my super-gorgeous hunnies is in danger! I must go and save her!" With that, he drew his sword and ran triple-time into the forest, following the sound.

* * *

Presea grunted and swung her axe. It bit deep into the oak, cleaving all the way through.

"Timber." She murmured, as the tree fell with a deafening crack. As she began to drag it back to the house, (with one hand, might I add) she heard Colette's yell.

"A friend is endangered. I will go an assist." dropping her burden, she took off to help.

* * *

As Colette wearily prepared to make another attempt to locate Lloyd and the others, Sheena appeared in a cloud of smoke.

"All right, what's happened." She asked, still mildly annoyed for the interruption of her meditation.

"Well you see…" Colette began, when suddenly a cry rang out from the surrounding trees.

"Don't worry, I'm coming! The great Zelos Wilder will save you!" the idiot ex-Chosen charged out of the forest and, upon seeing that there was no danger, attempted to stop. His efforts merely caused the situation to get worse as he tripped over a root and ran right into Sheena. The two of them collapsed and rolled, eventually coming to rest with Sheena sprawled out across Zelos' chest.

"You know, Sheena…if you wanted me like this before…all you had to do was ask…" said Zelos with a glint in his eyes and a perverted grin on his face. Sheena was a little dazed from impact still and didn't respond. Zelos took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her, and the result was electric.

"Zelos…"Sheena said with deceptive mildness, "Is that your hand on my butt?"

Zelos, seeing the fire in her eyes, realized his danger and attempted to flee, but it was way to late. _Smack smack smack smack smack smack smack_. Lets just say that Zelos' face would have matched Lloyd's jacket.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Said Colette.

"Stupid pervert had it coming." Growled Sheena.

"Hey, that's a bit harsh…" objected Zelos.

"You deserved it!" said Sheena, growling louder. She took a step forward, grasped Zelos by the shoulder, and shook him hard.

At that precise moment, Presea entered the clearing. She looked at Zelos, then at Sheena, and a small smile made its way onto her face. Sheena noticed her expression and immediately her anger turned to horror.

"I swear, this is NOT what it looks like, I just…I mean, Zelos, he…" she stammered.

Zelos burst out laughing. "Denial is always the first step, hunny."

_Smack._ "NEVER call me that again!" said Sheena, still raging.

"If I could continue…" Colette said quietly.

"Of course. I'm sorry. Something about Lloyd…"

"Ooh! Did he ask you to go out with him?" One guess who that was.

_Smack_. One guess who _that_ was.

Colette turned bright red, but continued on. "Lloyd, Kratos, Genis, and the Professor have vanished!"

"Huh? Vanished? Where did they go?" asked Zelos.

"That's gotta be the dumbest question I've ever heard! If she knew that, would she be running around in the middle of the woods this late?" replied Sheena testily.

"They were outside, waiting for dinner when I last saw them. Then when I went to get them, they had disappeared!"

"Maybe Raine dragged them off to some ruin or another?" suggested Zelos.

"Nah, Colette would have heard Lloyd arguing with her. Besides, she would have dragged the rest of us off too." Said Sheena.

"Maybe they were kidnapped!" said Zelos.

"Odds of them being defeated in combat and taken prisoner outside an occupied house that contains one with angelic hearing are 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 to one." said Presea.

"Sounds pretty convincing when you out it that way…" said Zelos.

"Why don't we just go back home tonight and go talk to Tiga in Mizuho tomorrow? The network is pretty knowledgeable, if anything's happened, they'll know about it." Suggested Sheena.

"Search without proper rest is a waste of energy and will accomplish nothing. Let us begin tomorrow." Said Presea.

"But before we do, how about some dinner? I'm starvin' over here!" complained Zelos.

As the group headed back to Dirk's house for dinner, they were completely oblivious to a lone man on a rheaird high above them.

"Disappeared without a trace, hmm? This could be worth investigating…yes indeed…" he flew off and disappeared into the night.

* * *

**Ha ha! I've got you at a cliffie! (Evil author laugh) Now! Read and Review, or else I will have Yuan slice you up with his giant two-bladed thingie!**

**Yuan: it's not a "thingie" it's a-**

**Zoray: I don't care! I am the author, and you are in my story! It's a thingie if I say it's a thingie!**

**Yuan: Yes, of course it is, how silly of me… (Grumbles death threats)**

**Is it just me or am I getting more and more random with each chapter? Ah, who cares? Just please, review my story. Thanks. See you next timeI**

**Yuan: You forgot the chapter hints.**

**Zoray: Thanks! (Gives Yuan a cookie) Here!**

**Yuan: Yay! Sugar!**

**Zoray: Next chapter – How long will it take to them to realize that the others have left the planet? How will they handle life on Earth? Who was spying on Colette? All that and more in Chapter 4!**

**Yuan: That's all, folks.**

**Zoray: Shut up, Yuan.**


	4. The Hunt Begins

**Greetings to my fans!**

**I am so very sorry for making you wait so long, I have had absolutely no time to do anything, what with the worst possible combination of writer's block, massive school projects, and the flu. Once again, I apologize.**

**Me: I want to get this over with quickly, so just do the disclaimer fast, Yuan.**

**Yuan: I have no choice, do I? **

**Me: (Grinning) Absolutely not.**

**Yuan: Crap. Zoray Zorial owns nothing of ToS and makes no profit whatsoever on this fanfic.**

**Me: Thank you for your cooperation.**

**Yuan: (grumbles) Yeah yeah, stupid author powers…**

**Last note – Yuan is pretty OOC (in my opinion) but hey…he's so much funnier like that! **

* * *

**TWO WORLDS ONE SOUL**

**ChapterIV – The Great Lloyd Hunt Begins!**

_Symphonia_

Colette rose bright and early to begin the hunt for the lost friends. Because, however, she didn't have to sleep, it was three o'clock in the morning when her cheerful cry rang through the house.

"Come on everyone! Up and at 'em! We gotta go look for Lloyd!"

As the company slowly staggered into the room, Colette got even more excited.

"Wow, you guys were up all night too?" she asked wonderingly.

"How could we sleep when you were talking in your sleep so loudly?" complained a very grumpy Sheena.

"I talk in my sleep? Neat! What was I saying?" she said.

"Oh Lloyd! Lloyd! Where are you? Why have you left me? Lloyd! Oh please, Lloyd, come back to me!" said Zelos in a surprisingly good imitation of Colette's voice.

Colette stood stock-still, heartily wishing she could slip between the cracks in the floor. Her face flaming red, she tried to stammer out a response.

"Umm…uh, you see, I …Ummm" she was saved when Presea entered, dragging an entire tree behind her.

"Did I miss something?" she asked.

"NO! Um, nothing at all…" Colette said, rather quickly.

"It's kinda suspicious when she denies it so loudly…" said Zelos with an evil grin on his face. Sheena smacked him.

Regal cleared his throat. "Why don't we just begin our journey to Mizuho now? By the time we get there, it will be light enough."

"Good point" said Sheena, "I'll just go now and let them know what we're looking for."

"Wouldn't it be rude to drop in on them at three AM?" asked Colette.

"Isn't it rude to wake us up at three AM?" grumbled Zelos under his breath.

"Nah, shinobi come into the village at all hours to report information, and besides, even the regular villagers are up unreasonably early to begin with,"

"Ah, Alright. See you soon." Said Presea.

Sheena disappeared in a puff of ninja-smoke.

"Shall I prepare breakfast?" asked Regal.

"Sure thing, dude. I'm starving!" said Zelos.

-- A Short Time Later --

The gang sat around at the table enjoying Regal's shortcake and discussing possibilities of their companion's disappearance.

"Well, we've already ruled out kidnapping," said Colette, as cheerful as ever.

"As well as a sudden, involuntary field-trip," said Presea.

"Perhaps they went on some sort of adventure without us?" suggested Regal.

"Pretty unlikely, but we can't say for sure until we talk to Tiga." Said Zelos.

"Speaking of that, shouldn't we be going?" asked Colette.

"Yeah, Lets go." Said Zelos "To the Rheairds!"

They boarded the jet-bikes and took off for Mizuho.

"Let the Great Lloyd Hunt begin!" yelled Colette happily.

"The great _Lloyd_ hunt? Aren't Kratos, Genis, and the Professor missing too? Or don't they count?" asked Zelos as they rose into the sky.

"Umm…Of course they do…I just…ummm," mumbled Colette.

"Give it a rest already, Zelos," said Regal, annoyed at the Chosen's constant teasing.

"Ok, ok, fine!" said Zelos.

_Mizuho, ten minutes later_

The group descended and landed in the center of the town. Regal had to loop his shackles around Zelos' neck to keep him away from the girls in town and focused on their mission.

Sheena emerged from the Chief's home. "I've got good news and bad news." She said. "Come on inside."

The group entered the house through the secret spinning wall, just because they could. **(A/N: I always do this : )**

When they were seated, Sheena began.

"Alright, here's what I know. The good news is we know for sure that they have not been kidnapped or killed. None of the bandit groups of thief gangs we know of have even been remotely near Iselia lately."

"And the bad news is…" said Presea.

"We can't find them anywhere. Not a trace of them. It's like they disappeared off the face of the earth." Said Sheena glumly.

"Wait a minute! Don't you have guardian tracers on all of us just in case this sort of thing happens?" asked Colette anxiously.

"We do, but the signal isn't strong enough to detect, wherever it's coming from."

"I may have a solution to that." Said a new voice. They all jumped in surprise as they whirled to face…

* * *

**(This is for you, Sichugirl)**

_Earth_

Kratos woke first. He stumbled into the kitchen to find something to eat. On the table was a loaf of bread, a container of butter, and instructions on how to use the toaster.

"Might as well…" He grumbled sleepily. He followed the directions, then sat down and waited.

Ten minutes later, Kratos' toast had yet to rise from the toaster. "Perhaps it just needs a little longer. I can wait." And so he did.

Fifteen minutes later, as Aaron was just walking into the room, Kratos finally snapped. "WHERE IS MY TOAST, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF METAL!" he raged, grasping the toaster and shaking it violently until the toaster mechanism sprung, sending the toast into Kratos' face.

"YAAAAH! HELL PYRE!" He jumped up and blasted toast and toaster alike with a fireball.

Aaron yelped and ran to put out his smoldering tablecloth as Kratos snatched up the lump of charcoal that had been his bread.

"At last." He said, sitting down and munching on the blackened crust, "My toast is done."

Aaron sighed. This was going to be a long day, he could tell already. He looked over at the toasted toaster.

"Well, here's your problem," he said, plugging it in.

* * *

**I apologize for that little bit of randomness, just a little insight on some of the problems that occur when the symphonians try to adjust to life on earth. More to follow.**

* * *

_Symphonia_

…Botta.

The company stared at him with varying degrees of surprise, from Presea's raised eyebrow to Colette's shout of near-terror.

"Hey, aren't you dead?" said Zelos.

"Umm, no, not really." Said a confused Botta.

"But you were locked in that dome in Rodyle's base and it was flooding and…HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?" shouted Colette, getting more and more frantic with each syllable.

She finally couldn't hold herself back. She ran over and engulfed the Renegade in a giant hug. "Oh I was so sad when I thought you died, it was so noble…" she said into his shoulder **(A/N: no this will NOT turn into Colette/Botta, thank you very much.)**

"Oh, it was soooooo noble…" mocked Zelos in a singsong voice. _Smack._

"If you will please get off of me," said a flustered Botta, "I can offer a solution to your problem. Or a partial one, at least."

"Really? And how will you do that?" asked a skeptical Sheena.

"Come with me to the Renegade Base, and I'll show you." He said.

And with that, they took off to what might be their only hope of ever finding their friends.

* * *

_Earth_

Later that morning, Kyle was showing Lloyd and Genis Tales Of Symphonia. They loaded the game disc and started it up, but immediately noticed something was wrong.

"Hey! Where are we?" said Genis. The little half-elf's words were true. Lloyd, Genis, Kratos, and Raine were missing from the game.

"Hmm, now that's odd… Hey! Aaron! Come see this!" Kyle yelled up the stairs.

Aaron poked his head around the corner. He appeared to be struggling with something.

"Kinda busy right now, can I come later?" he said, grunting with the exertion of his burden, whatever it was.

"It's important. Get over here!" said Lloyd. "And what the heck are you doing, anyways?"

"Raine," he said, "Is obsessing over myiPodand will undoubtedly dissect it if I let her go."

"Oh." Said Lloyd, privately wondering what an "iPod" was. And so, with some assistance from Kratos, who had recovered from his encounter from "The Toaster From Hell", dragged Raine into the den to see what was so important.

"Hey! Where did these guys go?" he exclaimed, indicating the people around him.

"They probably disappeared from the game when they came here, and-" Kyle stopped and stared at the TV "Now this is interesting…" they gathered around the screen as a scene definitely not originally programmed into the game unfolded…

* * *

_Symphonia, the Renegade Base_

The companions and Botta landed and entered the base. As they walked to the control room, Colette spoke up, curiosity overwhelming her.

"Botta…How come you aren't dead?" she asked.

"Yuan teleported me out at the last possible second." He said.

"But he told us you were dead!" exclaimed Sheena.

"I'm sure he had his reasons." Said Botta. "At any rate, you could ask him yourself now." They came to the Control Room door, andBotta walked right into it.

"Ow! What's going on? That's supposed to open automatically!"

"Perhaps the door is locked?" said Presea.

"Right. Passcode." Said Botta. He took a little metal plate from his pocket and slipped it into a slot in the wall.

"PASSCODE?" said a computerized voice that sounded vaguely familiar.

"Oh, stop playing games, Yuan. You know it's me." Said Botta

"YOU COULD BE ANYONE. SAY THE PASSCODE."

"Fine." He cleared his throat, "Yuan is the most powerful, handsome and the all-around coolest dude on the planet."

The companions all sweatdropped.

Botta glanced back at the companions. "Sorry you had to hear that." He whispered.

"I HEARD THAT." Said Yuan.

The door slid open.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Earth_

'Botta was right…I definitely didn't need to hear that." Said Aaron and Kyle together.

"Can't argue with that." Said Raine.

"I think he's gone senile in his old age." Said Kratos, slightly smiling.

There was dead silence in the room.

"Did Kratos do what I think he just did?" asked Genis incredulously.

"Yep. I think Kratos just told a joke." Said Kyle.

"Kratos? Joke? In the same sentence? AAAAUGH! IT'S A SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE!" yelled Lloyd.

Kratos just chuckled and gently cuffed his son.

"Speaking of the apocalypse," said Kyle, "When are your parents coming home? It could be trouble if they saw all of them here."

"Well," said Aaron, looking at the Symphonians, "You guys picked the best possible time to get sucked into our dimension. This happens to be the first week of summer break, so I won't have to go to school for another three months and--"

Lloyd's eyes bugged out, "No school for three months? Why can't we have that back home?"

Raine sighed and smacked him.

"Now, we don't necessarily have those three months completely free. We have big summer projects for most of our classes to do over the summer." Said Kyle.

Lloyd's eyes fell. "Oh." He said simply.

"And also," said Aaron, picking up where he left off, "My parents are off on a transatlantic cruise and won't be back for a week and a half."

"What's a transatlantic cruise?" asked Raine, intrigued.

"A very long journey on a giant boat across one of the planet's major oceans." Said Kyle. Raine blanched at the thought of it. "And people do this willingly?" she said, both horrified and fascinated.

"Yeah, tomost people, it's a great vacation!" said Kyle

"At any rate, if you guys are going to be here for any length of time, you are going to have to get some normal Earth clothes on." Said Aaron.

"Why? I like these clothes. There's nothing wrong with them." Said Kratos.

"You like them so much, you never change them the entire game." Said Aaron. At Kratos' death glare, he continued. "Anyways, those clothes are definitely not what we wear here. As you can see," he said, indicating himself and Kyle, "You would stick out like a sore thumb."

"Not to mention the fact that you would suffer one of the most horrible experiences on the planet." Said Kyle ominously.

"Oh no, don't tell me that there's even worse discrimination against Half-Elves here than in Sylvarant and Tethe'alla!" exclaimed Raine.

"Oh, no. even worse." Said Kyle.

"And what might that be?" said Genis fearfully.

Aaron and Kyle looked at each other, then said with one voice the most dreaded word to all videogame and anime characters alike.

"Fangirls."

* * *

**Oh no, not fangirls! Ah, but of course! The next chapter, there will be madness as they show themselves to the outside world! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! **

Yuan: (Sweatdrops) this is going to be bad. And when this is done, I'm going to kill you for the humiliation you've put me through.

Zoray: You ain't seen nothin' yet.

Yuan: Gulp!

Zoray: Please read and review, I promise to get the next chapter done quicker! So help me or Yuan will slash me to death with that evil two-bladed thingie of his!

Yuan: For the last time, it's not a—

Zoray: You realize that nothing you say will change anything, right?

Yuan: Harrumph.


	5. Reunions and Disguises

**Greetings, All.**

**Welcome to chapter five. I apologize for the slow updates, but I have had absolutely no time to do anything lately. First thing's first, starting now, I will definitely cut way back on the randomness, and because of that, the humor, and this will become a much more serious fic. As you've probably noticed, I've changed the summary to reflect the changes I have planned for this fanfiction. I apologize to those who would want me to continue this as a nonsensical humor piece, but that will not work with the remainder of the plot. Sorry.**

**Yuan: Does that mean I can leave now?**

**Zoray: When I said the entire fic, I meant the _entire_ fic. You cannot leave until this is complete. And I might drag you back in for a sequel. It depends.**

**Yuan: Last chapter you said that my public humiliation was imminent. Is that still going to happen? (Points to announcement overhead)**

**Zoray: Perhaps, perhaps not. I haven't really decided yet.**

**Yuan: Can we get on with the story now? This is getting boring.**

**Zoray: Oh don't worry; you'll get more than your fair share of excitement this chapter…**

**Yuan: I don't like where this is going…(Gulps)**

**Zoray: Heh heh heh heh heh.**

* * *

**TWO WORLDS, ONE SOUL**

**Chapter V, PartI – Reunion and Disguises**

_Earth, Aaron's house_

"So, what the heck is a fangirl?" asked Lloyd, quizzically scratching his head.

"A fangirl or fanboy is one who is afflicted with an uncontrollable obsession with a character from a videogame or anime, and have taken this obsession to an unbelievable level.Kinda like aneven more obsessiveversion of one of Zelos' floozies.If one of them catches sight of any of you, you will be mobbed, poked, and glomped with unbelievable ferocity." Said Aaron.

"Glomped?" asked Kratos.

"Allow me to demonstrate the typical fangirl reaction." Said Kyle, with an evil grin at Kratos.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Yelled Aaron, as Kyle launched himself at Kratos. Before the seraphim could even twitch, Kyle glomped him with a loud yell of "KRATTY-SAMA!"

The entire company sweatdropped, then burst out laughing as Kyle let go of a very flustered Kratos.

"Oh man, Dad, you should see your face!" laughed Lloyd, holding his sides and shaking uncontrollably.

"I have never experienced something so horrible." Said Kratos.

"And what's worse is there's always going to be at least six of them, they seem to travel in packs." Said Aaron.

"And once one knows, they all seem to know, and they show up in a never-ending stream." Finished Kyle.

"Oh Martel, that sounds horrible!" exclaimed Raine.

"And that's why you need some of our clothes."

"You expect me to wear your clothes?" said Raine, aghast.

"Don't be ridiculous. You can borrow my sister's." said Aaron.

"Hey everybody! Look at this!" said Lloyd from in front of the TV.

The companions gathered to watch another insight at the world of Symphonia.

* * *

_Symphonia, Renegade Base_

The companions entered Yuan's office to see Yuan making adjustments to a very strange device. A silver pedestal rose up from the floor. Three sweeping gold winglike protrusions held a perfectly round crystal that was shimmering with a rainbow of colors. Yuan was tapping buttons and twisting a series of brass dials around the top of the pedestal.

"Sir, Botta reporting for duty, sir." Said Botta with a salute.

"Thank you for bringing them, Botta." Said Yuan.

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Yuan, but what is that?" said Colette.

"This wonderful device was created recently by myself." Said Yuan.

"Ahem." Botta cleared his throat.

"Ah, yes, Botta helped too. It's called the Mana Tracker, and it will help us find your missing friends."

"Hey! How did you know they were missing?" exclaimed Sheena.

"I was out on a survey of the continent on my rheaird and just happened to overhear your conversation." Said Yuan, slightly smiling.

"Just happened to…ah, nevermind. How can it find them?" asked Sheena.

"Indeed. I cannot say I understand how it works." Said Presea.

"Well then, allow me to demonstrate. Lights, please." Sad Yuan. The lights went out. Yuan tapped a final button on the machine, and the orb began to glow. A bright blue beam suddenly shot out from the top and hit the domed ceiling. It spread down until the company was encased in a hemisphere of blue. The solid dome faded into a grid, and many dots of varying sizes appeared in thin air all around them, with yellow pulsing membranes between some of them. Yuan pointed to a sapphire-blue one with a pink-purple speck orbiting it.

"You are here." He said. "The blue one is Symphonia, and the purple speck is Derris-Kharlan. This one…" he indicated a green dot roughly the same size and currently hovering in front of Colette's nose, "is a planet called Earth. I don't know anything about it, I doubt anyone does, but that is where you will find your friends."

"Neat toy, Yuan, but how do you suggest we get all the way there? I'm counting at least three dimensional barriers between here and there. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Rheairds can only cross one…" pointed out Zelos.

"If only Lloyd were here, we could get him to take us there with the Eternal Sword, but seeing as he's not…" said Colette.

"Why don't we just get Origin to take us there himself? He is bound, at least in part, to Sheena." Said Regal.

"Ah! Why didn't I think of that?" Sheena smacked her forehead, and then assumed a summoning trance. "I summon thee, the source of Heaven and Earth and everything in between…Come, Origin!"

Origin appeared and settled to the floor before Sheena.

_What is it you require of me?_

"I wish to find our friends! Gatherest thy power and reunite us with our lost comrades!"

_As you wish._

They disappeared in a flash of white light. When Botta recovered his vision, he realized that Yuan was gone too.

As the companions, plus Yuan, soared through time and space, we now rejoin our heroes on earth…

* * *

_Earth, Aaron's Living Room_

"Uh, oh…now the rest of them are going to be coming here…" said Aaron.

"Aw, man…and I was just starting to like this place too…" said Lloyd dejectedly.

"We're not going anywhere. _They're_ coming _here_, you dolt!" said Genis.

"Oh."

"Brace for impact." Said Kratos. FLASH! CRASH! "OUCH! GERROFF!" "HEY! WATCH IT!" "AH! YOU PERVERT, GET YOUR HAND OFF OF THERE!"

Needless to say, it was total chaos. When the dust finally cleared, the entire company was finally reunited, although not quite the way they intended. Zelos and Sheena were sprawled across the couch. And from Sheena's yell, Zelos was doing something perverted. Yuan had landed squarely on top of Kratos, eliciting a grunt from the normally stoic seraphim. Raine and Genis were in a heap along with Regal and Presea, with Genis blushing to the roots of his silver hair, because Presea's rear end was conviently placed on his face for his immediate viewing pleasure. **(A/N: Heh heh heh. I'm a pervert, I know)**. Origin had completely floored Aaron and Kyle, who were struggling to disentangle themselves from his four arms. Colette seemed to be the only one who came out standing, but she amended that by throwing herself into the arms of a very embarrassed Lloyd. Lloyd thanked Martel that Zelos hadn't seen, as he was busy nursing two black eyes and bruised ego. It took five minutes to untangle the mess and put the living room back into some semblance of order.

"Well. That was…interesting." Commented Aaron.

"I'll say." Agreed Kyle, "Why don't we get this thing going, it's gonna take forever anyways,"

"Amen to that, brother," said Aaron mournfully. "All right, here goes."

"Who the heck are you? And where the heck are we?" asked Sheena.

"Shall I spare them and just say it all at once?" asked Aaron.

"It's probably better that way." Said Kratos.

"To answer you question, Sheena, I am Aaron and this is Kyle. You, along with Presea, Zelos, Colette, Regal, and…surprisingly, though not unexpectedly, Yuan, have landed yourself on Earth, by means of Origin over there."

The new arrivals stared at him like he had just grown three extra heads.

In the background, Genis whispered to Lloyd, "3…2…1…"

"WHAT?"

"HOW THE HELL-"

"BUT- BUT- HOW DID YOU-"

The yelling and questioning continued very similar to this for several minutes until finally…

"EVERYBODY JUST SHUT UP!" screamed Raine.

The world had never seemed so quiet.

"Heh heh, good old Professor…" chuckled Lloyd. Raine cuffed him on the back of the head.

"Everyone just stop so we can get things sorted out. You all have been brought to Earth in what I can only assume as an attempt to rescue us, am I right?" asked Raine.

"Correct," said Regal.

"Now, here in this world, we have already existed for about five years, am I right, Aaron?" she continued.

"Also correct," said Aaron.

"Excuse me, Professor, but how is that possible?" asked Colette, clearly not comprehending how she could possibly be living two lives at the same time.

"Well, we haven't existed in a tangible form, but these people know about us just the same. Allow me to show you." She walked over to Aaron's bookshelf and pulled down his copy of the Tales of Symphonia Strategy Guide.

"Why you little- So that's how you got through Shadow's temple so quickly!" exclaimed Kyle.

"Ah…funny story about that…Exit stage right!" he dashed out of the room as a very annoyed Kyle chased him.

"Moving on, these people have created an interactive game that describes our entire journey, although with some degree of customization." Said Raine.

"For example, you can either keep Zelos in your group and never get Kratos back, or you can get Kratos and kill off Zelos." Said Lloyd, reading over Raine's shoulder.

"Hey! That's not cool, man!" objected Zelos.

"My apologies, but I think Kratos is just more useful. You know, with Judgment and all…" said Aaron, as Kyle chased him through the living room again. He soon had two on his tail as Zelos vaulted the couch and joined the chase.

"I'll kill you like you did me!" he yelled. "Man, that sounds weird…"

Raine sweatdropped. "At any rate, we've been here with Aaron for the past two days, waiting for you to come help us, because Lloyd couldn't access Origin's power to use the Eternal Sword."

Origin looked like he was about to say something, but he settled back into the chair he was currently occupying and did nothing. This didn't escape Kratos, but he did just noted the fact and filed it away for later use.

"Now, since you are all here and Origin is with you, we should have no problem getting back to Symphonia. Any questions?" said Raine.

_There is only one flaw in your plan._

Raine looked indignantly at Origin. "And that might be?"

_After reuniting two worlds, which is a very strenuous task, and dragging ten people across three dimensional barriers, which are not to be crossed for a reason, I have not the energy to take you back. My strength has not been exhausted this much for some time, and I cannot tell you when I will regain enough of my power to return you. I am sorry, but there is nothing I can do at this moment's time._

The faces of the company fell. Once Zelos and Kyle heard the news, they stopped chasing Aaron around and joined the remainder of the group.

"Well, there's only one thing to do now…" said Genis.

"Yeah! Play videogames and hang out at Aaron's house!" yelled Lloyd.

"Yeah, great…absolutely great…" grumbled Aaron.

* * *

_-- Later that night --_

"This game's winner…Link!" said the SSBM announcer.

"That's no fair! How are you doing that!" complained Lloyd, as Kratos beat him for probably the twentieth time in a row that hour alone. Kratos smirked slightly, only infuriating Lloyd more. "Fess up! You've done this before!"

"Well of course I have. Didn't you notice?" said Kratos.

"Notice what?" said Lloyd, clueless.

"That there was one of these in the Sylvarant Base. He and Yuan probably played it all the time." Said Kyle.

"You think your son would have inherited _some_ of your intelligence…" said Aaron, grinning.

"Why you-"

"I suppose not." Said Kratos,chuckling as Aaron dodged Lloyd's enraged strikes.

"Not you too, Dad!" whined Lloyd.

"Aaron." Said Genis from behind the couch, "Didn't you mention disguising us with some Earth clothes so we don't stick out so much,"

"Ah! Thanks for reminding me!" he dashed off to his room. In about ten minutes, he returned with a stack of clothes. "These should fit you guys…my mom doesn't get rid of anything, so I still have stuff you size, Genis. I hope they work all right. Bathroom's down the hall on the left, and you can use my bedroom too."

"Thank you, Aaron." Said Kratos.

Five minutes later, the transformed trio reemerged. Lloyd was dressed in black wind pants, a black Adidas shirt, a red Rossignol jacket **(You ever seen those? They look like something he would wear…I'll take better suggestions for all of them, as I'm not good at this sort of thing.) **and black-and-red Nike's. Genis was wearing a light blue t-shirt, a dark blue vest with white trim, and jeans. Kratos was clad in black jeans, a purple shirt that said "Don't mess with the Master" and a black jacket with dark purple stripes down each arm. Of course, the swords at their waists kind of ruined the illusion

"You guys look great. You'll fit right in, as soon as you get rid of your swords." said Aaron.

"Are you sure about this?" said Lloyd, "I look goofy in this stuff."

Kyle poked his head into the room. "Trust me Lloyd, it doesn't take earth clothes to make you look goofy."

They all laughed but Lloyd.

"Oh yeah, sure, very funny, guys. Veeeeeeery funny."

"Why do we have to go without swords? Are they illegal in this world?" asked Kratos.

"Not really, but you would stick out like a sore thumb, even with Earth clothes." Said Aaron. "Not many people walk around with swords at their hips nowadays."

"Ah, I see. Although it pains me, I will leave it if I must." Kratos reverently unclasped his sword-belt and laid it gently on the table. Lloyd tossed the Material Blades carelessly on the couch.

"Lloyd, put those in their sheaths so Flamberge doesn't set my couch on fire." Said Aaron.

"Oh, sorry." He said, sheathing the swords.

"Hey guys, what's up?" said Colette, walking in. "Oh, wow, you guys look great!"

"Hey, Colette, could you get everyone else so we can get you all earth clothes?" said Aaron.

"Yeah! Sure!" She ran out to get the others.

Soon the entire company was gathered in the living room. All except Origin, that is.

"Where's four-arms?" asked Aaron.

"He went off to wherever Summon Spirits go when they haven't been summoned." Answered Sheena.

"Ah, all right. In any case, I've got to go up an get Earth clothes for all of you guys. Kyle, could you please tell the newcomers exactly why they need disguises? Please, use any method you deem necessary."

"Oh Martel no…" said Kratos.

Aaron went upstairs to get clothes. As he reached the top of the stairs, he heard a loud cry of "KRATTY-SAMA!", a grunt, and gales of laughter. Chuckling to himself, he entered his sister's room. He looked through her clothes, trying to find something good for each of the females waiting downstairs. He picked up one garment, and he couldn't help thinking _Wow...sis would kill me if she saw what I was doing right now...heh heh heh...I hope she doesn't come home for a while...I'd be in so much trouble..._ Just as he finished gathering disguises, his worst fears came true. he heard a car pull up the driveway and his front door open. All color drained from his face as he heard, "Aaron! I'm home!"

-- CHAPTER INTERRUPTED --

* * *

**Well, for those of you who have read this before I edited, I believe you will be glad of the changes I have made. Thank you for your cooperation. **

**It says 'Chapter Interrupted' because this was getting to long, and I wanted to hear what everyone thinks before I get to far along. The fangirl scene will happen before the end of chapter five, I swear to you!**

**Yuan: it seems I've avoided any embarrassing situations you've thrown at me so far…**

**Zoray: Don't even think that I'm done. In fact, I never really started! Wait till you get to the mall.**

**Yuan: Mall? What's a mall?**

**Zoray: (Sigh) never mind, you'll find out in the next half… please review, and, because I forgot, do the disclaimer, Yuan.**

**Yuan: (Sigh) Yes, of course. Zoray Zorial owns nothing, just his plot and the villain who has yet to be introduced.**

**Zoray: Who gave you permission to give away my plot? (Advances with katana he pulls out of nowhere)**

**Yuan: Umm…Exit stage right! (Runs off)**

**Zoray: Chaaaaaaarge!**

**Yuan: - Pain -**


	6. Misadventures

**Greetings once again!**

**For those of you who had no idea what I was talking about last chapter, when I first published Chapter 5, Part 1, the ending of it was … different, to say the least. I will not say anything about it, so don't even bother to ask. It was really really bad, and I'll leave it at that. This chapter, however, will be perfectly acceptable, with the conclusion of Chapter 5 and the long-anticipated fangirl attack!**

**Yuan: I think I'll be going now.**

**Zoray: You'd certainly like to think so, wouldn't you?**

**Yuan: I am NOT getting into any situations with fangirls!**

**Zoray: And who was it exactly who said you had any say in this? (Grabs Yuan by his ponytail and flings him into the story)**

**Yuan: Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow! (Crash) OUCH!**

**Zoray: And don't come back! (P.S. – The Story Genie has granted your wish, AnnaAurion123, you have been placed into my story as Aaron's elder sister Sam!)**

**Yuan: (Moans) Zoray...owns...nothibng...ow, my back...**

**Two Worlds, One Soul**

Chapter V, Part II:

Misadventures

* * *

Aaron hid the stack of his sister's clothes under his bed and ran down to face the music. 

"Hurry up! Everyone, into the basement!" he said in a harsh whisper, opening the oak door and ushering the symphonians and Kyle down the stairs. He walked out into the entrance hallway to greet his sister.

"Hey Sam…you certainly are back early, what happened?" he asked, covering his fear with a mask of calm.

"Jake happened," Sam said. That was all Aaron needed to hear. Jake, Sam's on again, off again boyfriend, was notorious for random acts of incredible stupidity.

"What did he do this time?" he asked, worried for her sake. The last time, he had tried to be cool and pop a wheelie on his motorcycle, forgetting Sam was on the back. They both slid off the back of the motorcycle, which didn't hesitate to shoot off the road into a ditch. Aaron thanked god they had been going slow enough that they weren't seriously hurt.

"Oh, he was trying to be all romantic…candlelight dinner and all, but he dropped a match and almost blew up the room."

"How did he do that?" asked Aaron in wonder.

"He dropped it into his glass of brandy. Thank god it only went up, not out." She said.

"Up not out?" asked Aaron, not comprehending.

"The glass was strong enough so it didn't burst, it channeled the flames up into his face." She said, smirking. "I've had enough of the idiot, I dumped him on the spot."

"Ah. That's good." He said, anxiety twisting up his insides.

"Something wrong, Aaron? You have a weird look on your face," Sam said.

"I just wasn't expecting you until morning, that's all," Aaron said. _I'm glad I threw out the tablecloth that Kratos fried, she might be a little bit mad about that._

"Oh… Well, if you're sure…All right. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go change clothes." She headed up stairs.

"Ah…I wouldn't do that if I were you…" he protested, knowing she would discover her missing clothes.

Sam gave him a quizzical look, but kept on going. Aaron knew he was doomed, so he ran when he had the chance. Quickly going down the basement stairs, he explained his situation to the group.

"Okay, as you probably heard, my sister is home a little earlier than I expected, and she's about to find out that I borrowed her clothes to get disguises for you girls, so I'm about to die," he said, "Good thing I haven't actually given them to you yet, she'd kill me even worse if she came in and found you wearing them…at any rate, I'm sure she'll be glad to help as soon as we explain the situation to her, just as long as we don't do anything else to get her angry, or she'll go absolutely psycho."

Zelos went red, and shuffled his feet a little. Nervously, he said "Ah hah hah…funny story about that…"

"AARON! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" came the ringing cry of total outrage from above. Sam stormed down the stairs, face red with sheer rage. The first thing that crossed Aaron's mind was how much she looked like the professor. The second was: _God, I'm screwed. _He took off running. Sam was not to be denied, and persued him with the ferocity only an angry sibling can muster.

"My clothes are missing, and WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO WITH MY UNDERWEAR!" she screamed, gaining on him. If skidding to a halt didn't mean his certain death, Aaron would have. He thought frantically. _I didn't touch her underwear, I don't even know where she keeps it. Who woud have…_ and instantly, he knew. "Zelos." He muttered darkly. As he passed the basement door, he heard smacking sounds, Zelos saying "ow" and Sheena attempting to yell at him while remaining quiet. Sheena had obviously reached the same conclusion.

"AARON! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Sam shrieked.

"Wait." Said Aaron, moving to a stop and holding out his hands. "I didn't do it, but I know who did. It wasn't me, I swear."

"You expect me to believe that?" said Sam in a very dangerous voice.

"Yes." Said Aaron, throwing open the basement door. "Sheena!" he yelled, "Give him here!"

"Coming, Aaron!" came Sheena's voice.

"Oh my god, you have girls over! What exactly is she doing down there? Why are you hiding her?" asked Sam threateningly.

"I don't get what you're…OH GOD! I certainly am NOT!" he said, getting her meaning. "All right, you guys had better come up here…"

Lloyd, Colette, Kratos, Sheena, Genis, Raine, Regal, Presea,Yuan, and Kyle filed out of the door.

"All right, where's the dirty philanderer?" sighed Aaron.

Sheena glanced around. "Hey! How'd he get away? Gah, I'll go get him" she trudged back down the stairs. There were sounds of searching, fighting, smacks, and some cursing, but Sheena soon emerged with the pervert slung over her shoulder.

"This is going to be bad, I can just tell." Said Lloyd. He was right. Zelos sighed, and Sheena screamed bloody murder. Apparently, Zelos had nuzzled Sheena's butt with his face. Sheena swung him around and handed his feet to Regal.

"Shake him. Hard." She instructed. He did, and the missing undergarments fell out of his clothes.

"P-p-p-p-u-u-u-u-t-t-t-t-t-t m-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e d-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-w-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n" he stammered, shaking hard in Regal's grasp.

"As you wish." And with that, Regal dropped him.

_Thwack_ "Ouch." He sat up, rubbing his head.

"So, Sam, are you satisfied?" asked Kyle.

"Nope." She walked over and kicked Zelos between the legs.

Raine winced. "That's gotta hurt."

"Cheap...shot" Zelos moaned, clutching his groin and sinking to the floor.

His sister was getting to be more like Raine every second, thought Aaron.

"Now where are the rest of my clothes? And speaking of clothes, why the heck are you dressed like that? You look like a Tales of Symphona convention… except… why ae you three are wearing Aaron's clothes?" said Sam, indicating Lloyd, Genis and Kratos, an exression of confusion on her face.

Genis shuffled his feet. "Funny you should mention that..."

"You mean to tell me..." she said.

"We do. We are not 'dressed for a convention', we are the originals, pulled from our world to yours by my idiot son." said Kratos.

"Hey, you don't have to be so harsh..." grumbled Lloyd.

"Oh. My. God. I suppose the missing clothes are for them?" sam inquired, glancing at Aaron.

"Yes. Currenlty, they are stashed under my bed. I'll go get them now." Aaron said.

-- a few minutes later --

The girls (Plus Regal, Zelos and Yuan) were changed, and came out to show the rest of the group. Regal was dressed in grey slacks and a black dress shirt. His long blue hair still had the tie in it, and he hadn't removed his shackles. Sheena had a short purple skirt, a white belt, and a purple t-shirt that was as open as her ninja garb. Zelos openly drooled, and Sheena kicked him in the gut. The aforementioned pervert was wearing a hot pink shirt that said "Real Men Wear Pink" on it. He also had black pants with a pink stripe down each leg. Raine was dressed in a white sweater and pale blue pants **(Nothing to fancy, not really Raine's style, if you ask me.)** Presea was clad in tan shorts and a pale pink top. Her pink hair remaied in the same style as ever. Colette had on a white shirt that said "I'm an Angel" with a halo around the words, and also a short white-and-blue skirt. Finally, Yuan appeared from the bedroom. He was wearing ripped jeans, a white t-shirt, and a leather jacket.

As it was never mentioned before, Aaron was wearing dark blue jeans, a forest green t-shirt, an emerald-green and white jacket, and white sneakers. Kyle had on a red 'Rurouni Kenshin' t-shirt, a grey hoodie, and black sweatpants. Sam had a blue tank top, white shorts, and one of those white sweater-jacket thigs, whatever the hell you call them.

"Ok, you're almost perfect. There's only one small problem," said Aaron.

"What is wrong with this?" asked Presea.

"You all still have your weapons. In our world, no one carries around swords and such." Said Kyle.

"Do I have to?" said Sheena, "Going weaponless…it makes me feel almost naked…don't even THINK about it, Zelos" She did, however, remove her cards from her pocket and set them with her ninja clothes on the couch.

"If I must, then I can go without." Said Regal, unbuckling the greaves.

"Shackles too, Regal, unless you want the police to arrest you for breaking out of prison," added Aaron.

"I swore that I would never remove these until-"

"You have done enough to repay for your deed a thousandfold…Alicia would not have liked for you to punish yourself forever." interrupted Presea.

"You said to her that you would continue to wear them until you had helped Lloyd save the worlds. Now that you have…you can stop punishing yourself…you've done enough," said Genis

"All right. I shall never wear these shackles again." With that, Regal removed his shackles. Raine set down her staff, Colette took out her rings, and Presea dropped her axe. Finally, Zelos laid down his sword, and Yuan leaned his two-bladed weapon against the wall.

"Hey, Yuan." Said Aaron, "I've always wondered…where the heck do you keep that, anyways? You don't have a sheath, or even a holster…and you never have it visible, you just pull it out of thin air. Where are you hiding it?"

"I keep it in something similar to a wing pack, called a Bladecase. Botta and I modified a couple of wingpacks to store our swords, so we can wield larger weapons without their bulk impeding normal movement." Yuan replied.

"Yuan, how many weapons can be kept in a Bladecase?" asked Kratos.

"I suppose that I could fit all of ours easily, seeing as it was originally designed to hold planes."

"Well, why don't you take them all with you, so we can have them if we need them?" asked Regal.

"Now why didn't I think of that?" asked Lloyd.

"Because you're an idiot!" cackled Genis, as he dodged a furious Lloyd.

"Don't make fun of him, Genis," reprimanded Colette.

"It seems Lloyd needs his girlfriend to defend him," murmured Presea.

Lloyd and Colette blushed furiously, suddenly becoming very interested in the floor at their feet.

"…" Kratos said.

* * *

-- That Evening -- 

"Wow, it's boring around here." Complained Lloyd after two hours of inactivity.

"You get bored so easily, Lloyd," said Aaron.

"I do not!" said Lloyd indignantly.

"Lloyd has a point…we can't just sit around until Origin gets his power back, so why don't we do something?" said Sheena.

"Yeah! What do you guys do for fun, anyways?" asked Zelos.

"We play video games, watch TV, go to the mall…stuff like that." Said Sam.

"Umm, what's a mall?" asked Colette.

"A place to hang out, get something to eat, go shopping…things like that." Said Kyle.

"OOOH! SHOPPING!" squealed Colette, displaying the typical teenage girl's reaction to the subject. Lloyd rolled his eyes.

"Oh, why not…" said Sam.

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea, guys." Said Aaron.

"Why not?" asked Raine.

"Fangirls. They hang out in droves in malls."

"…" said Kratos.

"Ah, we've fought off Abyssion, Mithos, all five Grand Cardinals, and more monsters than anyone can count…" began Lloyd.

"8,974 creature encounters." Said Presea.

"… Wow, leave it to her to know exactly how manymonsters we've fought." Remarked Zelos.

"Anyways, we should be just fine. But please, if you are discovered, don't go berserk on them and use techs or anything…we don't want anyone hurt." Said Aaron.

"Can they even use techs to begin with? I really don't think there's a Giant Kharlan Tree around here anywhere, so I don't see how they could." Said Kyle.

"But didn't Kratos use Hell Pyre yesterday?" asked Lloyd.

"Are you guys sure there's no Mana Tree? You're world is just flooded with mana! It's like you've never used any of it!" exclaimed Genis.

"Genis, on Earth, there is no Magitechnology, and no one knows magic."

"…" said everyone.

"No magic? Are you sure?" said Sheena.

"None." Replied Sam.

"How do you manage?" asked Zelos.

"We have other means. Our medical technology is very advanced, for example." Said Aaron.

"Really? Like what? Please! Tell me more!" Raine instantly went into Ruin-Mode at the mention of new technology.

"Settle down, Raine...this is a house, not a hospital...and I'm sure they wouldn't let you disassemble their equipment anyways." said Kyle. Raine's face fell.

"Can we please go to the mall now?" Asked Colette.

"Sure, sure. Just don't say I didn't warn you…" said Aaron, as the company went outside.

* * *

The boys (Yuan, Kratos, Regal, Zelos, Genis, Lloyd) got into Aaron's car, while the girls (Raine, Sheena, Colette, Presea) got into Sam's. Kyle took his motorcycle. It took ten minutes to get to the mall, but is seemed quite longer because of the Symphonian's unfamiliarity with Earth transport. They all made it in one piece, although it did take several doses of Kratos' patented 'Seraph Death Glare" to finally get Lloyd and Genis to stop fighting over the rights to the back seat. 

"Finally, we're here." Aaron breathed a sigh of relief and a quiet prayer as they pulled in. They gathered together in a large group before entering.

"Ok, two rules. One – girls/women stay with Sam, boys/men with me and Kyle." Said Aaron.

"Kyle and I, Aaron. Didn't you ever learn grammar? Honestly!" said Raine.

Aaron got one of those anime 'vein pulsing in the temple' icons, but continued on. "The other rule – none of you will use your real names. If a fangirl happens to be in earshot and somebody says the name Kratos, well I don't think I need to say what will happen to poor Kratos."

"…" said Kratos, sweatdropping.

"Cool! We get alter egos!" said Lloyd excitedly.

"You mean ailiases" said Regal.

"Actually, you don't, Lloyd." said Kyle. "Lloyd is a pretty ok name, you won't attract suspicion."

"Aww, man…"

"Lessee, Kratos will Kevin, Colette will be Chelsea, Genis will be George, Regal will be Ryan, Raine will be Rachel, Zelos can be Zach, Presea can be Priscilla **(Please…help me get better names for them) **Sheena can be Sarah, and finally, Yuan can be…uh… what the hell can we call Yuan? I can't think of anything else that starts with "y"." said Aaron.

"Does it have to?" said Raine.

"I suppose not... Evan, perhaps?" said Kyle.

"Why the hell not?" said Yuan, shrugging indifferently.

"Lets go!" said the annoyingly irrepressible Colette, now Chelsea.

An so, they ventured into the mall, the girl's to go look at clothes, (and probably blow Sam's credit card) and the boys left to go look at videogames and such.

_-- With the Boys --_

"Hey, Aaron? Can I borrow some money? Gen- , er, George wants to buy this book and the guy at the counter won't take Gald." Said Lloyd.

"Of course he won't take gald, you nincompoop! What do you think this is? Altamira?" said Aaron. He sighed, "Here Lloyd, let me handle it." He went and bought "George" his book on different archaeological sights and ruins around Earth.

"For Rachel, right?" asked Kyle.

"What? Oh, of course." Said Genis.

"Who's Rachel? Your girlfriend?" asked the man at the counter.

Genis made a face. "Martel, no! She's my sister!"

Kyle sighed. This was going to be the death of them, he was certain of it. One look at Aaron told him he had reached the same thought. Lucky for them, Genis got off with an odd look from the cashier, but nothing more.

No one noticed that sinister eyes were watching them. _Lloyd? Gald? Altamira? Martel? Guys that look and talk just like…Oh god, this just could be them! I must tell the others!_ With that, the watcher slipped away into the crowd.

"Hmmm…?" murmured Kratos. He had felt the eyes, and he was sure he had just saw a t-shirt with his face on it disappear into the mass of people. _Oh Martel, no… please don't let this be what I think it might be…_

"Aaron." He said.

"Yes? What is it?"

"I think we're being watched. I would advise you and the others to be on your guard."

"I take your point." And so they continued to walk around, but they were aware of several pairs of eyes following them, and a building sense of foreboding and doom.

_-- With the Girls --_

The female component of the company emerged from some random designer clothes store, all laden down with bags of purchases, and Sam's credit card significantly reduced.

"Oh my… I never knew that shopping could be so much fun!" exclaimed Raine, laughing.

"I know, it's great to get something different than my old shinobi outfit, that's all I could wear back in Mizuho," said Sheena.

Sam smacked her forehead. "Sarah, be careful! You don't want them to hear you talking like that, do you?"

"Who, fangirls? They'd have to be lesbian to go after me. Yeesh." Said Sheena.

"What's lesbian mean?" asked Colette, ever innocent.

"Ugh, nevermind, Colette." said Raine.

"To give a complete answer, Sheena, Aaron did mention fanboys too." Said Presea.

"Uh, oh. Not good." Said Sheena shuddering.

"It'll be all right as long as you watch what you say." Said Sam reassuringly.

Little did they know it was already too late.

_-- Back with the Boys --_

The company was making its way back to the entrance to meet with the girls, dodging comments and weird looks about strange hair colors, when Kratos and Yuan heard the most terrifying sentence possible.

"Quick! I saw Kratty-sama and Yuie-sama! The real ones! And they went this way!"

They both looked at each other in absolute horror.

"Aaron, I suggest we drop all pretenses and run for our lives." Said Yuan, fearfully glancing over his shoulder.

"Don't tell me that-" said Lloyd.

"We've been found out. The fangirls are coming." Said Kyle.

"I told you not to tell me!" yelled Lloyd.

They heard shoving, running, and squealings of "Kratty-sama!" from behind them, and took off at a full-out run.

_-- Once again with the Girls --_

Presea cocked her head. "There seems to be a commotion."

"Yeah, something about someone named "Kratty-sama" and "Yuie-sama" whoever they are." Said Colette, clueless as ever.

Sheena blanched. "Someone's using a -sama honorific? Uh oh…Raine, we've got trouble!"

Just then, the male half of the group ran by at full speed. Genis yelled over his shoulder "Comeonthefangirlsaregonnagetusanyminuteandifyouwaitmuchlongerthey'llgetyoutoo!"

Although it took them a second to process Genis' words, the men were soon joined as the screaming horde of fangirls came into sight. All of them had clothes with Tales characters on them, and were yelling at the top of their lungs to their favorite character.

"We had better find an exit soon, before-" began Regal.

Almost in response to his words, another horde came around the corner and rushed at them from the other direction.

"-we get cornered." He finished.

"Genis! Get on my back!" yelled Lloyd. Genis jumped on without question. Lloyd flared his wings and ascended to the glass ceiling. He picked up speed, and punched straight through.

"I've got you, Sheena!" said Colette, grasping the summoner around the waist and airlifting her out of the imminent combat zone.

Unfortunately, the sight of the angel wings only whipped the fangroup into an even greater frenzy. They dashed over and threw themselves atop poor Kratos and Yuan.

"Dad! No!" Lloyd tucked his wings against his body and plummeted down as Zelos ascended with Raine. Meanwhile, Aaron and Kyle tried to pull the rabid fangirls off of poor Yuan.

All that could be seen of Kratos was a single gloved hand reaching toward the sky, slowly sinking deeper and deeper into the throng. Lloyd grasped his hand and began to pull upward. There was a flash of blue, and soon the pair broke free and hovered out of reach.

"Come on, we've got to help Regal!" exclaimed Lloyd. He pointed to the blue-haired fighter, cornered against the wall by several fangirls. Kratos swooped down to help him, and soon they reached the safety of the roof. By this time, Kyle and Sam had been airlifted, but Aaron was still neck-deep in the sea of crazed Yuan fans. At that moment, Yuan burse from the crowd, grabbed Aaron's outstretched hand, and the final members made it out of the death zone.

"I have to say, that was the most horrible thing that ever happened to me." Said Yuan.

No one disagreed.

"They weren't even after me, but it was horrible nonetheless" said Aaron.

"All right…lets go home. We'll need plenty of rest after that little escapade." Said Raine.

"Amen to that, sis." Said Genis.

They decided to avoid the risk of returning to ground level, so they left their cars in the parking lot, while Sylph flew them home. (the non-flight-enabled among them, at least.)

They were completely unaware that unfriendly eyes were still watching them.

"Soon, soon. Soon I will have my chance…my revenge." The figure threw back its head and laughed. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"

* * *

**Thank god that's finally over. I apologize for the slow updates, but I have had little time or motivation lately. Sorry.**

**Zoray: Hey! Why are you here, Aaron? What happened to Yuan?**

**Aaron: Yuan said that he would never forgive you for the hell you put him through, and thus will not come back.**

**Zoray: Goddess curse him, I'll kill him for this. (Grabs katana and stalks off)**

**Aaron: See you next chapter. Reviews are appreciated. Cough-RunifyouvalueyourlifeYuan-Cough Cough. **

**Zoray: What was that?**

**Aaron: (whistling innocently)**


	7. Enemies

**Hello, readers!**

**Lately I have been suffering from depression from lack of reviews, but I'm over that now, thanks to a sudden inrush of reviews! Thank you all! (Salutes) And now, without further ado, the segment you've all been waiting for…(Drumroll, please)…CHAPTER 7!**

**Please accept a heartfelt apology from a writer who didn't publish for so long. But hey, would you feel like writing after _your_ grandmother passed away? Anyone? I didn't think so.**

**Warning – Very serious chapter, there will be slightly less humor from now on. I want this thing to have _some_ plot, ya know.**

**I do know own Tales of Symphonia. Or Rurouni Kenshin, for that matter. (You'll see. Please, Watsuki, don't kill me!)

* * *

**

**Two worlds, One Soul**

**Chapter VII – Enemies**

The company flew homeward under a canopy of stars, the sickle moon providing a soft silver glow to illuminate the way. It was dark. Very dark. The company thanked Shadow for providing them with the cover to fly unseen, as any viewing would be disastrous. Anyone who happened to glance upwards had a chance of seeing five sets of iridescent wings in the sky, and several more flying with no visible support at all. (Aaron and Kyle would learn later that there had been several sightings of UFO's in their town that night.) As they flew, Kratos stared at the stars, deep in thought.

**(Warning: very serious monologue approaching at high speed)**

_The stars are so different here…and yet they are the same. They continue to watch humanity, their lives spanning billions of years, observing all, but remaining remote and unable to act. So similar to I, cursed to near-infinite existence, so far removed from those around me. So often I did not act, stayed so remote, I did nothing when something needed to be done. I should not have stayed passive and let Yggdrassil move unopposed, I should not have stayed silent during my four thousand years. I should have acted against Kvar before, foreseen an attack, and instead, I lost my wife. I should have dove after Lloyd…instead, I lost him for sixteen years. So often I have remained immobile, like a statue, as time passed me by in so many ways. If only I had acted perhaps I never would have gotten my greatest foe…if I had acted, perhaps he could have been saved…_

Kratos looked up from his thoughts, distracted by a strange feeling in his gut.

_Hmm? It couldn't be…I almost thought I sensed him…Orois…how could he have survived? _

He flew up a little higher, searching with angelic vision.

_No…I must be imagining things…he couldn't have survived the explosion…there's no way in heaven or hell that anyone could have lived…_

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, resuming his normal flight path.

_Heh heh heh…poor little Kratos…I suppose that you forgot that I can see every little thought wandering through that little head of yours…what was that saying of yours? Oh yes… "Blame your fate." Well, you've never seemed to get your fair share of that fate…you destroyed my family, destroyed my life, took everything I loved from me…and your precious fate has done nothing to punish you for it. And as the Japanese say, if the heavens will not deliver punishment, then weon earth shall take punishment into our own hands. Prepare yourself, little Kratos…the time has come. Prepare yourself…for Jinchu._

The black-cloaked man threw back his head and laughed. Then he vanished into the shadows he was so much a part of, like he had never existed at all.

_Back at Aaron's house_

"Hey…Dad." Said Lloyd.

"Yes, Lloyd?" asked Kratos, as father and son took seats in Aaron's den. Lloyd stared at Kratos with unusual seriousness.

"You looked like you were thinking really deeply about something, and now you've got this gloom around you…even more than normal, that is."

Kratos chuckled dryly at his son's little joke. "I was just remembering a little bit of my past."

Lloyd stared at him a little longer. "Humph." He said, not breaking eye contact.

Kratos sighed. It appeared his son was not to be dissuaded. "There was a time, long before I met Anna, and shortly before Martel's death, that Yuan, Mithos, Martel and I had an encounter with a man named Orois."

Lloyd's eyes widened. "You mean…THE Orois? The fabled assassin of the Kharlan war that was second to none in single combat?"

"Yes, the very one. We were mopping up pockets of resistance that didn't want to stop the battles. They were so intent on destroying their enemy that they had to be entirely wiped out. Orois was the leader of a very powerful faction of them. But this faction was different. They didn't want to kill the Sylvarants just because they were Sylvarants, for them it was personal. You see, the members of his faction, the Brotherhood of the Burning Moon, were all individuals who had lost family or friends to the Sylvarant army."

Lloyd was shocked. "And what does that have to do with you?"

"I was the reason he began that Brotherhood."

"What? How?" Lloyd looked incredulous.

"Yes, do tell!" said another voice behind Kratos. Kratos yelled, jumped probably six feet off the ground, and fell out of the chair. He looked up, straight into the Ruin-Mode-crazed eyes of Raine. Behind her was the entire remainder of the company, which had somehow snuck up behind him.

"Well, at least it saves me the trouble of telling it twice." Commented Kratos dryly, immediately regaining his composure and settling back into the chair.

"Please, Kratos. Continue your story." Said Colette.

"All right, all right." He said. "Some years before, during the war, our little company was fighting in a small town near where Palmacosta is today. We had been ambushed, and were fighting for our very lives. We knew the only way to escape was for us to unleash the full measure of our magic." He paused. "The village was annihilated. It was never our intention, but the spells fused in a way we had never seen before, unleashing power we had never dreamed of."

* * *

-- FLASHBACK -- 

_The ones who would be called the four seraphim stood huddled together inside a ring of hostility. They knew there was only one way out, and they didn't like it. _

"_We have no choice!" yelled Kratos over the noise of the fray. He parried the thrust of an armored warrior, and his riposte took the man's life._

"_But what if-" cried Martel, staff poised to bash in the next head that presented itself. _

"_There's no other option! Just do it!" shouted Yuan, as he barely avoided an enraged mercenary._

_The four focused their powers, and cried out_

"_Judgment!" roared Kratos._

"_Indignation!" shouted Yuan._

"_Holy Lance!" cried Martel._

"_Prism Sword!" yelled Mithos._

_As soon as the spells were cast, things began to go horribly wrong. The crystal weaponry of Holy Lance and Prism Sword sparked with the godly lightning of Indignation as they rained down not only on their targets, but on the town, the houses, and the innocent people running for their lives. And at the climax of the chaos, the Light of Judgment came down upon the town in a gigantic column, obliterating everything. As the world went white, there was only the sensation of hurtling through the air, then everything faded to blackness…_

-- END FLASHBACK --

* * *

"Whoa…" said Lloyd.

"How did the spells interact like that? That never should have happened." Said Genis.

"None of us knew." Said Kratos.

"How does that have to do with Orois?" asked Sheena.

"Orois' brother, the last member of his family still alive after the Kharlan War, was the leader of the men who attacked us. He died in that battle. Although I did not kill him personally, the blast that resulted from our mixing magic did." Said Kratos.

"Kratos…" said Raine, "How horrible…"

"Word soon came to Orois that his brother's company had been destroyed. Somehow, he got word that it was me."

"And then what?" asked Zelos.

* * *

-- FLASHBACK -- 

_Kratos walked silently and alone along the path of a forest no one in the company recognized. He came upon a fork in the road. One path lead off into a long tunnel of green, identical to the one he had been traveling for some time. The other went into a clearing, where a town had sprung up around a mercenary fort. Several of the mercs were putting up posters with badly drawn portrait scrawled across its face. Kratos stared hard at it for several moments before recognizing it as his own._

"_Do I really look that bad?" muttered Kratos._

"_Now hear this!" cried a voice, startling Kratos from his criticism of the (horrible) artist._

_Kratos ducked into the shelter of the trees. On silent feet, he crept carefully around the outskirts until he had a safe perch in the top of a giant maple. From this height, he was safe from prying eyes, and his superior hearing allowed him to hear everything that was going on._

"_Listen, all!" shouted the man, waving a poorly drawn poster, "This man is a danger to us all! He destroyed an entire town for the sake of a handful of men! One of the men who lost his life because of him was my own brother…the only one I had left…and he murdered him, along with everyone else in a half-mile radius! He is a murderer! A horror! Bring him in alive! Allow me the chance to avenge my brother and all who died by his hand, and you will receive one million Gald!"_

_As the crowd cheered, Kratos silently seethed. He had never intended for anything to happen…there had been something there to influence the spell. They never should have mixed in that way. And now this man dared accuse him of mass murder? _

"_I will not stand for this!" he cried, beginning to rise from the tree, but caught himself, "That would be playing right into his trap. He probably knows I'm watching him now. It would definitely be better to wait. I can deal with him later."

* * *

_

"Heh, it looks like wanted posters run in the family." Said Genis.

Lloyd, miffed, looked away.

"So…what became of Orois? The legends say he was killed in a great explosion when his fortress was destroyed. Is that correct?" asked Regal.

"It is." Said Kratos.

"Was it you that destroyed it? And killed Orois?" asked Presea.

"Regretfully." Said Kratos.

"Talkative today, aren't we?" asked Aaron sarcastically.

Kratos gave him the "Patented Seraph Death Glare"

"Shutting up," said Aaron meekly.

"I must know…how did he die? What happened at the fortress?" asked Raine.

"I'm worried that he didn't die…" murmured Kratos.

"What was that?" asked Lloyd.

"No…nothing. At the fortress…" said Kratos.

* * *

-- FLASHBACK -- 

"_Are you sure about this, Kratos?" asked Yuan._

"_It is the only way. Besides, I am the only one he wants. If you are with me, you are only endangering yourself."_

"_We've already lost Martel…I can't take it if we lose you too. So like it or not, I'm going with you." _

"_Out of the question."_

"_This isn't negotiable. I will not allow you to." Said Kratos._

"_Oh? Won't ALLOW me to go? Since when do you have the authority to-"_

_Kratos knew this wasn't going to work, so he resorted to desperate measures. "I'm sorry, Yuan." He said. Before Yuan could even blink, Kratos lunged in, grabbed the hem of Yuan's cape, and brought it down over his head. Yuan's yells of indignity were smothered as Kratos tucked the fabric around his head again and tied it with the most complex knot he knew. He took off immediately towards the castle, leaving a furious and confused companion staggering in circles wondering what the hell had happened._

"_That should fix him long enough to get to the fortress." Thought Kratos, as he sailed through the air in slowly falling darkness._

_He crested the hill, and found what he was searching for. Orois' fortress, resembling the Desian Ranches that would come about in later years, was built partially into the side of an artificial cliff carved from the side of the mountain. Mercenaries with Orois' blue flame-cloaked silver crescent moon emblem patrolled the walls and manned searchlights that made approach from the ground impossible. Kratos climbed rapidly, then paused, angling himself with a flat space near the top of the base. Then he put away his wings. As the wind screamed by him like a banshee's howling song, he righted himself so he was falling feet-first. At precisely the right moment, he flared his azure wings, and spread his arms and legs to slow his descent. It was perfect. Without a sound, he set down on the roof, his descent far to fast for any guard to notice. Without looking back, he entered the highest chamber. He couldn't, however, shake the feeling that his entry had been far too easy…_

_It appeared his suspicions were accurate. As soon as he set foot inside, he heard the telltale "snick" of a trap being released, and threw himself forward in a roll. He heard the deadly darts whistle past inched behind him, and when they passed, he stood. In hindsight, a big mistake._

_Snick._

_Thwap._

_Kratos fell to his knees, his hand immediately going to the dart imbedded in his right shoulder. Instantly, he felt the cold fire of a toxin flood his body. He struggled to his feet, fighting the paralyzation threatening to immobilize him._

"_I knew that would get you." Said a cold voice._

"_Wh- Where are you? Show…yourself!" Kratos struggled to speak._

_His enemy stepped from the shadows. Clad in a silver-lined black cloak and silver-embossed black leather armor, Orois emerged from behind a pillar. His face could not be seen, hidden by a silver-edged black cowl._

"_Ah, my mortal enemy. We'll see just how mortal you really are…" with this, he drew a pair of glittering silver daggers from concealed sheaths. Cast in the shape of wings, they looked as deadly as they were beautiful._

"_Coward..." grunted Kratos, barely staying upright._

"_We'll see about that," said Orois, lunging. The daggers flashed in the moonlight from windows in the ceiling, as he slashed with blinding speed. **(Insert "Fatalize" music here) **Kratos barely managed to get his sword out in time to deflect them away. Orois spun adeptly, gracefully leaping and spinning as his daggers formed a cage of flashing silver around him. He charged again. Kratos sidestepped, and slashed weakly at his enemy's flank. Orois skillfully parried, and continued his dance of death. He seemed to be in three places at once, and Kratos' poison-numbed body could barely follow. Orois' blades sliced him from all angles, cutting long, shallow wounds in Kratos' arms, legs, chest and back. _

'_He's killing me by inches…and there's nothing I can do.' He thought. At that point, the poison finally took its toll, and he collapsed, unable to move. Orois came over and kicked him in the ribs, sending him rolling against the wall. Orois grasped a fistful of Kratos' cape and dragged him upright. _

"_Now die, you pathetic excuse for a man, and suffer as my brother did!" as the silver point whistled through the air, there was a sudden sound of steel clanging on stone, and a whistling noise as something flew through the air. Orois gasped, clutched his side, and let Kratos slip to the ground. Kratos saw Yuan standing over them, and one of Orois' darts in his hand. _

"_I've given him a taste of his own medicine. Come on, old friend…let's go." _

"_No…wait…we cannot leave him. If he lives, his group will continue to slaughter…innocents. I cannot…allow that to happen."_

"_But if you do that, it will make him just as he says! A murderer!" _

"_Is the life…of one…truly worth more than the life of many?" He had no idea how much those words would come back to bite him in the butt later._

"_Fine. Here, let me help you." The two flared their wings, Kratos supported by Yuan, and they both chanted with one voice._

"_Sacred Powers… Cast your purifying light upon these corrupt souls. Rest in peace, sinners! SERAPH JUDGEMENT!"_

_Hundreds of beams of powerful light blasted down from the heavens, striking Orois' mercenaries and shredding the fort's walls. Strangely, the main tower was left untouched. Kratos and Yuan both felt a great surge of mana, and knew something was going terribly wrong once again. At the same time, they both shouted "We have to get out of here!"_

_Kratos leaned on Yuan and they quickly moved to the balcony where Kratos landed. Looking up, they saw lightning sparking in the shy above the fortress, and they felt mana gathering in an amount they had never witnessed before. Flaring their wings at the same time, they flew as swiftly as they could to the safety of a nearby hill. Just as they touched down, the heavens opened and unleased the Light of Judgement in a force that they never imagined possible. It completely blinded them, and the resounding shockwave knocked them back twenty feet. When they regained consciousness, they made the slow clime to the top. What they saw was beyond description. There was nothing left of the base or the mountain it was built into except a hundred-foot deep crater at least three hundred feet wide. Not even a scrap of metal remained, only smoke, fire, and death._

**(Man, THAT was long)

* * *

**

The company was too stunned to respond for several minutes.

"Did Orois survive?" asked Sam.

"No. There was absolutely no way anyone could have survived that blast." Said Kratos.

"Why would this happen? Surely you did not summon that much power willingly…or with such an intention." Said Regal solemnly.

"No, of course not." Said Yuan, speaking for the first time that evening, "But we reached the conclusion that it was Orois' doing."

"What? You mean he blew himself up? Are you crazy?" exclaimed Lloyd.

"Not in the slightest. We believe that his body produces an aura of sorts that can amplify magic to almost obscene proportions."

"Astounding!" exclaimed Raine. "It's a pity he was annihilated, I would have loved to examine him…amplify magic…amazing!" her eyes glowing with ruin-frenzy, she wandered off, muttering about things like "Mana catalytic properties" and "esoteric intensification dynamic". Lloyd kneaded his head, the magitechnological terminology giving him a headache.

Out of the blue, Yuan chuckled.

"What's so funny?" asked Kratos.

"Heh…I _told_ you you'd need my help!" said Yuan.

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

The company burst out laughing at the sudden display of immaturity, especially from their most stoic and severe members. It continued for several minutes, and everyone was glad for the respite from the gloomy topic. A few minutes later, they resumed the conversation.

"So…what made you start thinking about Orois?" asked Sam

"…I thought I sensed him as we were flying here…but that's impossible."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, little Kratos…" said a cold voice. As all color drained from Kratos' and Yuan's faces, there was a crash and tinkling sounds as the window shattered. To Kratos's horror, a horribly familiar sound was heard over the chaos.

_Snick.

* * *

_

**I heartily apologize for the long update, and I swear that it will be much faster next time. In the meantime, please review!**


	8. Confrontations

**Hello.**

**Welcome to chapter 8.**

**I do not own ToS or RK. I have a lot of references to RK (Ok, I stole a lot) in this chapter, so some of you may not understand some parts. Orois' Jinchu, for example, was borrowed from RK's antihero Enishi.**

**On with the fic.**

* * *

Two Worlds, One Soul

Chapter VIII – Confrontation

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To Kratos's horror, a terribly familiar sound was heard over the chaos.

_Snick.

* * *

_

The darts whizzed everywhere, striking couches, walls, paintings, lamps, vases, everything it seemed, but people. A dark shaped loomed in the smashed windowframe, staring coldly at them with unemotional ice-colored eyes as darts flew from him.

"YUAN! THEIR WEAPONS!" yelled Kyle, dodging darts.

**(Insert "End of a Thought" here)**

Yuan hit the "release" button on the Bladecase, and its contents soared through the air to their respective wielders. Sheena immediately dove behind the couch and began to summon Origin. Genis and Raine began casting spells as soon as their weapons reached their grasp. Lloyd, Kratos, Zelos, Presea, Regal, Yuan and Colette rushed Orois as soon as they were armed, hoping to stop him by sheer weight of numbers. They all tried to get to him first, but the window proved to small, and Yuan blocked the way for everyone else. He quickly spun his sword-thing rapidly to deflect the storm of darts, but he couldn't get them all, and soon went down. Regal passed him back to Raine for healing.

"Aaron! Kyle! Sam! Stay back! This man is far out of your league!" yelled Kratos over his shoulder.

"Really?" Said Aaron, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Quickly, the three headed upstairs and out of range.

"Sonic Sword Rain!" yelled Lloyd, stabbing rapidly at the dark shape in the window. Somehow, Orois emerged from the onslaught unscathed. He snapped up his arm, and there was a bright flash. Lloyd lay sprawled half-out the window, staring swirly-eyed at the stars. Orois grabbed him roughly by the collar and hauled him out of the way.

"Double Demon Fang – Hell Pyre – Victory Light Spear!" cried Kratos, the combo sending Orois sailing into the tree outside. He was sprawled across a lower limb, and was just starting to recover when Presea and Regal entered the fray.

"Fiery Infliction!" she said, lopping of the tree limb and barely missing Orois himself. The branch plummeted, and Orois after it.

"Dark Moon – Dragon Rage – Eagle Fall – Swallow Dance!" Regal's combo slammed into Orois, sending him soaring against the brick-and-steel garage. On impact, he was struck instantly by Colette.

"Triple Ray Thrust!" Each successive chakram hit him higher and higher up the garage wall, until the roof's overhang prevented him from ascending further. When nothing remained to hold him up, he free-fell foreward, smacking down hard facefirst with a sickening _crunch._

As he landed, he was hit again by Genis, Raine, and Sheena.

"Ray!"

"Indignation!"

"Follow it up! Prism Shards!"

Orois barely had time to curse his own aura before he was hit with shards of light the size of minivans that blew a giant hole in the garage wall, leaving him cut and battered inside as bricks and mortar rained down upon him. Sheena didn't even give him a chance to stand.

"I call upon the source of Heaven and Earth and everything in between! The King of All! I summon thee, come, Origin!"

The four-armed man appeared and blasted the spell-sword with a powerful ray of white light. Orois was lifted up and thrown back against the inner wall, then slid down and fell facefirst onto the floor. He did not move.

"Whoa…where the hell did he come from! I though you said he was dead!" said Zelos.

"So did I …." Said Kratos.

"Oh well, we've finished him off now…" said Lloyd, striding over to Orois' unconscious form.

"Lloyd! Be careful! It will take more than that to fell him!" cautioned Yuan from the door.

"I've taken on Yggdrassil…how tough can _he_ be?" asked Lloyd, to no one in particular.

"Little boy…some of us are more powerful than that fool…" a cold voice whispered.

"Huh? Who said that?" asked Lloyd, bending down over Orois.

"Lloyd! Look out!" shouted Regal. His warning came too late.

Orois shot out a black-gloved hand, grabbing Lloyd by the throat. Lloyd cried out and struggled to escape, but his efforts were in vain. Orois held fast to the red-lad youth. He brought up his other hand, and a spark flashed from his fingertip. Lloyd slumped and went limp, unconscious. Orois swirled his enshrouding robe, and they disappeared in a cloud of purple-black smoke.

Aaron, Kyle, and Sam got the shock of their life when, on their way out to help, Orois materialized in front of them. Sam immediately stepped into action, smacking him upside the head with a trusty skillet from the kitchen. Orois, seeing stars, staggered backwards, dropping Lloyd as he fell over Kyle's outstretched foot. He careened backwards, landing hard.

Grinning, Aaron took up his trusty duct tape.

* * *

Two hours later, he awoke. At first, all he saw was blackness. He could hear people moving around him, but the could not distinguish anything other than deep, impenetrable darkenss.

"Hey, he's awake." Said a female voice.

_Click._

Instantly, bright light drilled into his eyes, turning total blackness into stark white. It was as if a miniature sun had ignited in front of his eyes. He cried out in pain and surprise. Slowly the pain faded, and the world came into focus. He was in a large room, lit only by a naked bulb hanging above him. He tried to move, but found he could not. He looked down, and saw he was bound in probably six rolls of duct tape to a stiff wooden chair. He was completely enshrouded up to his neck in the accursed grey tape. There was even a strip of the infernal substance across his mouth. Several people stood around his chair, only one of whom he recognized.

"…." Said Orois, matching frosty glares with the Seraphim.

"…" was Kratos' reply.

They stared at each other in total silence. Neither gave even an inch of ground in their battle of wills.

_How in hell is he still alive? And what is he doing on earth? And why did he attack me?_ Kratos wondered silently, his icy gaze drilling into Orois.

_What is that bastard doing here? On Earth? And how is he still alive? It's been what, 4000 years? He doesn't look any different! Ah, it doesn't matter. I'll still have my Jinchu! _Orois held Kratos' gaze.

The tension in the air was so thick that you could slice it with a knife.

The two arch-enemies glared at each other, slowly leaning closer and closer until their fierce eyes were merely inches apart. You could almost see the sparks flying between them as they both struggled for the upper hand, neither willing to give in. The instant just before they both swore their eyes were going to explode…

Kratos slipped.

Overbalanced as he was, he couldn't stop himself as he tumbled foreward and smashed into Orois. Their faces collided, and Kratos grunted as blood dripped from his nose. Already a large lump was forming on Orois' forehead as his head lolled back, swirly-eyed.

After a few minutes of healing (as in a first aid spell for kratos and a bucket of cold water to wake up an unconscious Orois) the interrogation began.

Kratos glared at Orois.

Orois glared at Kratos.

"…" said Kratos.

"…" said Orois.

"OH MARTEL, GET ON WITH IT!" shouted Yuan. He stalked over to Orois and grasped the duct tape over his mouth. Orois had an instant to brace himself, and then…

RRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPP!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Orois' scream echoed throughout the entire house and deafened all the occupants for a good ten minutes. When they recovered their hearing, Yuan spoke first.

"And just how the hell did you survive?" he questioned.

"That blast…ripped the fabric of spacetime…and sent me here, about four thousand years ago." He said, grimacing. The removal of the tape had apparently removed his lips too.

"And you're still alive…how, exactly?" asked Sheena.

"I believe we can answer that." Said Aaron. Kyle nodded.

Kratos raised an eyebrow. "You can?"

"Mm-hmm. He's got an exsphere in each dagger hilt." Said Kyle, holding the beautifully crafted knives.

"So what? We've got exspheres, but we're not immortal." Said Lloyd.

"Yeah…but these feel different. Different from normal exspheres and Cruxis Crystals." Said Aaron.

"How can you tell that? I can sense their mana signature, but I don't see how you can…" said Genis.

"Neither do we. We can just sorta sense the energy coming off it. The best way to describe it is like the tingling you feel right before lightning strikes." Said Kyle.

"Your exphere, Kratos' Cruxis Crystal, and these ones here all feel slightly different. I really don't get it." Said Aaron, looking as puzzled as Lloyd

Raine jumped into Ruin-Mode, her eyes practically glowing with excitement. "FASCINATING!" she exclaimed, jumping up. "To think that you, who've never been exposed to exsphere resonations can instinctively tell..." she trailed off, then lunged at the frightened pair of Terrans. "I…MUST…EXAMINE!" With that, she began to chase them around the room. Sam joined the chase to save her little brother from his imminent dissection.

"Raine! Cut it out!" she cried as they ran upstairs, "Listen to my, you ruin-crazed maniac!"

Zelos chuckled. "Yep, that's my Ultra Cool Beauty for ya."

Sheena cuffed him. "Give it a rest for once." She said, rolling her eyes.

Orois watched all this with a sort of detached amusement. Unbeknownst to them, he had already freed his hands beneath the duct tape, and was reaching for his hidden knife. Soon it would be time. He just had to wait a little longer…

"Now." Said Kratos, turning back to him, "How did you live this long?"

"If I had one guess, it'd be that all that energy mutated my exspheres."

"Hmm."

"…"

"What have you done…these four thousand years?"

"I've been in a country called Japan. A long time ago, they were a very militaristic society. I fit right in. I had the time of my life during the Bakumatsu…they called me a Hitokiri…I met this wonderful man named Enishi…good times, good times." He sighed, obviously recalling past experiences. "So. A Cruxis Crystal. I should have known…"

"What do you mean?" asked Kratos. He couldn't have known of Cruxis Crystals, he head 'died' before Mithos first produced them.

"You think those pathetic Terrans upstairs are the only ones who've played your videogame?"

"Ah." Said Kratos. Inwardly, he was disturbed that a world's worth of people knew so much about him.

"Speaking of Enishi…" Orois said, "He had a little policy he lived by. It said: If Heaven will not cast judgment, then we on earth will take it upon ourselves. He called it Jinchu. You asked why I survived, Kratos. I survived to deliver the judgment Heaven has neglected to give you. I have come, Kratos, for Jinchu."

With those ominous words, a knife sprouted from the duct tape binding Orois and he slit himself free. Before anyone could react, he dropped his shoulder and slammed Kratos in the gut, sending him flying backwards into Sheena, Zelos, Colette, and Regal. All five collapsed. He dashed across the room, and repelled an attack by Presea with a roundhouse kick that sent her sailing into Genis, knocking them both out. He rushed at Lloyd, but was stopped as Yuan's blade sailed past his face like a buzzsaw of death. He jumped back to avoid it, but found himself flying towards the wall again as he was hit in the back. Before Regal's handiwork could take it's full effect, he vanished in a cloud of purple-black smoke.

**(Insert "Full Force" Here)**

"Quickly! Upstairs!" yelled Kratos.

Orois once again appeared in the living room. Snatching up his knives from where Aaron had apparently dropped them as he fled from Raine, he made a dash for the door.

"NOW!" yelled a voice. A cord was pulled taut, and Orois found himself hurtling facefirst toward the unforgiving wooden floor. Tucking quickly, he rolled to absorb the impact and sprang out of the roll into a kick that sent Raine to the floor. Pushing off, he leapt nimbly back across the room to engage the remainder of the company.

"Get him!" yelled Zelos, rushing in with his sword drawn. Orois countered the slash with an X parry, and a kick to the groin sent him spiraling into unconsciousness.

Colette was the next to fall. Her sailing chakrams were sliced in half by Orois' flashing knives, and a pommel to the temple felled her.

Presea ran at the assassin, her axe raised. Orois dodged her strikes with inhuman reflexes, and a sharp blow to the neck with his hand sent her down.

"PRESEA!" yelled Genis. He didn't even bother with spells. He rushed in and tried to whack Orois with his kendama. His slow attack was dodged like it wasn't even there, and a boot to the face sent the little tyke sailing backwards, sprawled unconscious overtop the love of his life.

Regal lasted a bit longer, as even Orois had a hard time keeping pace with the expert fighter. Greaves rang on knives as they flashed across the space, jumping tables, chairs, and bookcases as they fought. As Regal leapt backwards over the couch, his foot snagged, and that was all Orois needed to get in the blow that ended it.

Sheena's cards, even magically reinforced as they were, were still nothing but paper in the face of razors. They were shredded, and Sheena quickly fell to a flurry of blows that even ninja reflexes couldn't defend against.

Next, he was charged by the three terrans, wielding a strange array of makeshift weapons. Aaron stayed back, chucking steak knives with suprising accuracy. Orois caught them or deflected them away with his blades, but it was distracting enough that Kyle could get in a couple of shots in with a pool cue. One of them hit Orois in the temple, giving Sam a change to bean him with a three-foot rod of pepperoni. It broke in half, and Orois turned the pool cue to sawdust, freed from the distraction of Aaron's knives, as he had run out. The earthlings retreated as Yuan and Kratos advanced.

They slashed and parried and riposted, neither party gaining an inch, but not giving an inch either. Kyle couldn't help but be reminded of the final battle scene in _Star Wars: Episode I_ with Darth Maul vs. Qui-gon and Obi-wan. They danced a dance of death across the deck, dodging with lightning speed, slashes and stabs missing by nanometers. The scale of battle was still perfectly balanced. At least, until Lloyd joined the fray.

"Dad! I've got a plan!" cried Lloyd.

"No! Lloyd, stay back! He's after you!" yelled Kratos.

"Actually, I'm after you, dear Kratos." Said Orois, in that sort of whisperey voice that you can somehow hear no matter how noisy it is.

"Just follow my lead!" Shouted Lloyd, "Rising Phoenix!"

Kratos took the hint. "Hurricane Thrust!"

Yuan followed suit, "Thunder Explosion!"

"Follow it up! TRI-ELEMENT STRIKE!" Kratos shot along the ground, Lloyd jumped up and came in above him, and Yuan somersaulted up and came down from above.

Orois was hit like he'd only been hit once before. Pierced in three places, he was battered by wind and rain, scorched by flame, and electrocuted by lightning all at the same time.

He fell to his knees. He bled heavily on the decking, but there was a cold smile on his face. As he began to stand, cool blue light flooded from his mutant exspheres, bathing his wounds with their healing rays. He stood completely, and his wounds were gone. With renewed vigor, he flashed back into the fight. Yuan was down in an instant, draped across the deck railing. Kratos was locked once again in a duel with his enemy. Lloyd could only look on helplessly as his father struggled. Then…it happened. Kratos' reserves finally gave. His defense faltered. Orois struck. Kratos staggered, and fell to one knee as Orois backhanded hin with the flat of his blade. Lloyd ran in with a cry of "DAAAAAD!" but Orois fell on him in a whirlwind of strikes. Lloyd was no match, and was soon bleeding from dozens of light cuts. Tired from the fight, he knew he didn't have a chance, but he kept fighting on. He had to. He had to protect his friends and the ones he loved.

"Lights out, Lloyd." Said Orois. The last thing Lloyd saw was a black-gloved fist coming straight for his face. To tired to bring his defense up quickly enough, he slipped into darkness again.

Orois quickly grabbed Lloyd and leapt up onto the deck railing. Kratos looked up to his enemy's face. Orois was silhouetted against the crescent moon that was his symbol, holding his son unconscious over his shoulder.

"Kratos…know this before I go. You've failed. You've failed Anna, and you've failed your son. Let that haunt you, and know that this is only the beginning."

He vanished.

* * *

**Evil, I know. Not only the cliffie, but the long wait as well. Well, I apologize. I needed this beta-ed and then I couldn't get to my computer for a couple of days. So here you are.**

**Thanks for reviews, the next installment's comin' soon.**

**Bye.**


	9. Prisoner

**Okay, Okay, I can take a hint. This story is henceforth resumed without an end in sight. (Relatively speaking)**

**Thanks so much for the overwhelming flood of support I've received with my selfish little announcement, I see now I was just taking the easy way out. I had no idea just how many of you were actually following my story. My thanks go out to the following for talking me out of my insanity:**

Adriannu255

Noir Dormi

Rory

Meowzy-chan

Forceuser3 The Jedi Master

Mavrik Zero

Kite1763

Miyu the Vampiress

**Also all of you who have ever read my story. I…Wait a bit, it appears I have an uninvited guest…Augh!**

**Yuan: (Throwing Zoray against the wall) YOU ARE A DORK. Why'd you have to go and let your inferiority complex get in the way of your writing? PEOPLE LIKED IT, IDIOT.**

**Zoray: Please, Yuan (And readers) …I'm sorry…**

**Yuan: You'd better be…OR ELSE (Spins sword-thingie threateningly)**

**Zoray: My, how the tables have turned. (Hides katana) Oh well. For the sake of my readers (and my health) let's get on with this thing!**

**

* * *

**

Two Worlds, One Soul

Chapter IX – Prisoner

* * *

Lloyd hurt. It was as simple as that. His mind was a haze of red fog, and coupled with the jolts that periodically shook him, it was impossible for his muddled brain to think clearly. He drifted in and out of consciousness randomly. He had no sense of time whatsoever, it could have been minutes, hours, or even days since Orois' fist had sent him spiraling into blackness.

At one point he was aware of shiny chrome and soft black leather, a faint rumbling noise, and strange music. All it seemed to be was a heavy rhythmic thumping and a deep voice chanting over and over again how he was going to slaughter someone. He resigned that he was going to hate that music till the end of time. Then there was a bump, and darkness claimed him.

He became aware of being carried, and observed a dirt path beneath him. Slowly, as blood rushed to his head, he realized he was upside down, slung over Orois' shoulder like a sack of flour. He didn't last long, and soon he knew no more.

He awoke once again an unknown interval later, and as he slowly opened his eyes, he realized that he was lying on a cold metal floor. He tried to sit up, but when he even moved his head, white-hot shards of pain shot from his spine throughout his entire frame, and he instantly collapsed, barely suppressing a cry.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Said a hated voice from somewhere out of his vision. He couldn't make out direction, as his head was still swimming.

"I've given you a strong dose of my dart poison. Any movement at all will be excruciating." Said Orois. Lloyd saw the shadows coalesce and a form step from nowhere into the semi-light of the sickle moon, that was streaming in through a small round window.

Orois paced slowly around Lloyd, observing silently. When he had completed a full circle, he stood motionlessly, half his face in shadow, and half in the light of the moon. In the moonlight, suddenly Lloyd noticed a glowing mark on Orois' forehead. It was a waning crescent moon, cloaked in blue flames. It took a few more minutes for him to realize that it wasn't actually on his forehead, but on a black cloth band around his head.

Finally, Lloyd decided to try speech.

"Wh- What...what do you want with me…?" asked the swordsman.

"Oh, it's not so much what I want form you…its what I want from Kratos." Came the cold-voiced reply.

"What do you want with him?" asked Lloyd, fearful for his father.

"I want him to suffer." Said Orois. His voice was as cold as ever, but in his icy eyes there appeared a flame of angry passion. "I want him to feel the pain of having one close to him torn away forever…I want him to sink into despair before I kill him. He will come within an inch of his sanity, and beg for me to end it. And end it I will, but I will do it so very agonizingly slowly that he will be pleading me to kill him…"

Lloyd, completely not grasping the situation, replied, "And what's that got to do with me?"

Orois barely restrained himself from gaping at the boy. _Could Kratos really have produced a son this dense?_ He sighed. "That was so dumb, I'm not even going to answer." He muttered.

Lloyd heard him, and knew his plan was starting to work. If he could convince Orois that he was a lot dumber than he was, he might get a chance to escape. Plus, if he could keep him talking, the poison might wear off, and then he could try to attack…

"You, Lloyd, are key. Kratos has already lost his wife, now think if he lost his only son to his mortal enemy as well…thus the beginning of the despair that is the entire point of Jinchu! I want to drag out his suffering, give him back the grief he gave me tenfold…I will torment him with the loss of his son, and that is only the beginning…"

"You mean there's more?"

"Of course there's more! You think that my entire plan would be to kidnap you and wait until Kratos goes completely crazy from guilt and hopelessness **(Unlikely, but hey, if it was _your_ son…)** and then comes looking for you, no doubt tearing the whole country apart until he comes bashing down the door to this place, and the two of us end up fighting some crazy clichéd-and-overused-but-still-weirdly-effective-heroic-good-guy-versus-psychotic-evildoer-fight-scene and then some sappy reunion father-son junk and then I do some crazy impossible resurrection scene and then the two of you gang up and kill me forever?" **(MAN I'm bad at subtle foreshadowing.)**

He said all of this with a strange glow in his eyes that was eerily familiar to the look in Raine's eyes when she goes on one of her monologues about ruins. Lloyd was mildly disturbed.

Continuing the monologue… "No. Of course not. My plan is a multilayered, complex web of despair that will settle slowly over Kratos... wrapping slowly around him until it is far too late…now that I have torn you from him, the next step is…is…" the light faded from his eyes, "Darn, I hope I have it written down somewhere…"

Lloyd resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wished Kratos could hear this, perhaps he wouldn't worry so much. _Naaaaaaaaaah._

As Orois went off somewhere to look for his 'Revenge on Kratos' plans, Lloyd decided to try to test moving again. When he could no longer hear Orois' boots clicking on the metal floor, he twiddled his fingers experimentally. They burned as if on fire. He decided to wait on that a little longer.

Looking out with peripheral vision, he observed the room in which he was held. It had black metal walls inscribed faintly in silver with fractal-like designs. The floor was brushed steel plates, and just below the ceiling line were a series of small round windows that let in light, although inactivated light panels were set into the steely ceiling. There was a faint noise that reminded him of the magitechnology in Yuan's bases, so he assumed was either in or near Orois' command center. There was no obvious door, so he assumed it was behind his head, where he couldn't see.

His observations of the environment complete, he looked down as best he could at himself. He was still wearing the Earth clothes, and Orois had confiscated his Material Blades. He cursed himself for not carrying a concealed dagger, although Orois most likely would have found it.

He decided now that, pain or no pain, it was time to move. As test, he curled his right hand into a fist. It burned, and small spikes of pain shot up his arm, but it was bearable. He shifted and began to sit up. He let out a faint grunt as the toxin activated, but continued anyways. He had to do something. He was not about to sit around and wait for his friends to come and rescue him. He leaned against the wall after finally making it upright. He turned around, and found a doorway leading out. He glanced at the room looking for something, _anything_ that could be used as a weapon. All there was was a metal cot, a blanket, and a small table. All in all, an absolutely spartan jail cell.

He crossed the room slowly to the door, and was not surprised to find it locked. He examined the lock, and found it to be a complex electronic device he had no idea how to pick. He tried everything in his power to pull back the panel around the lock but his efforts were in vain. He sank to his knees, pounding his fist against the door. His fist collided with the lock, and the door popped open with a hiss. The unsuspecting swordsman, who had been leaning against it, fell forward onto his face. To his surprise, there were no guards, just an empty hallway. Carefully proceeding down the hall, he couldn't shake the feeling that this was far too easy.

* * *

Eventually, he arrived at a door in the wall. He stood pressed against the wall next to the doorjamb, and waved his hand in front of the door. It opened with a hiss. He stood nervously for a minute, and the door hissed shut again. Assuming that no one was within, he entered cautiously. What he saw was a treasure trove of weapons. There were axes, lances, spears, swords, knives, and polearms of all shapes, sizes, and descriptions. Some were simple, elegant tools, some were outlandish and exotic creations, and some were so barbaric that he looked away. And there, resting on a plinth in the center of the room, were his Material Blades, locked away in a glass case. After a moment's hesitation, he hefted a heavy gold hammer from a nearby rack, and lifted it above his head. He swung with all his strength…

-

Orois, meanwhile, was in another room, this one filled with computer terminals, large projected displays, and massive cabinets filled with files on every imaginable subject. He was hunched over a drawer of one of said cabinets, rifling for a file.

"Hmm, lessee…K…K…Kelly Clarkson…no, that's not it…Kill Listing…man, now _that's_ a big file…Aha! Here it is! Kratos Jinchu Plan!" He took a sip of coffee as he lifted the precious file out of the cabinet. Before he had a chance to swallow, he spewed it all over the desk as he looked up at the display screens. To his great surprise, Lloyd's cell was vacant, the guards gone. _Probably off drinking coffee somewhere. When I'll get my hands on them, I will soooooo fire them. _Then the camera's view snapped to the trophy room, where our hero was busy swinging the Hammer of Thor at the glass case that contained the young angel's blades. As the sound of breaking glass was just beginning to sound in the trophy room, Orois turned to shadow and disappeared.

* * *

"Now that I'm armed again, I'm all set to-"

"Put them down and get chained to your cell wall." Said Orois, in his customary cold voice.

On impulse, Lloyd spun, slashing out with the Vorpal Blade . Orois, taken for an instant off guard by the youth's reaction time, received a very shallow cut across his chest before he drew up his knives to divert the killing force behind it.

"Dark Banishing." Said the assassin, extending his open palm and blasting Lloyd onto the shattered plinth with a pulse of dark energy. Lloyd cried out as the shards of glass cut into his arms.

He leapt up of the plinth, rebounded off a weapon rack, and came down upon Orois with swords spread wide. Orois shunted the attack almost without trying, and Lloyd crashed into the floor, skidding along and smashing into a rack of spears, several of which he sent flying at Orois. The assassin darted around the assault, and fell upon our hero in a series of lightning-quick attacks that Lloyd barely defended against. He got to his feet with difficulty, but once he was up, he had no intention of going down again.

"Fierce Demon Fang – Twin Tiger Blade – Super Sonic Thrust – Hunting Beast – Psi Tempest – Rising Falcon – Demonic Circle!" Lloyd's combo went on and on. He used every technique he knew, fought to the limit of his ability and beyond. He joined the strikes flawlessly, and even the eternally critical Kratos' jaw would have dropped just a little at the display.

Lloyd, exhausted from his exertion, fell to one knee, leaning heavily on his swords. He barely had the energy to look up to see the effect of his strike. What he saw was Orois, standing, and unharmed. His mutant exspheres glowing a radiant cyan, he towered over Lloyd and laughed. His laughter echoed in Lloyd's head as he sank into unconsciousness.

The last think Lloyd saw was an image of his father.

_I'm sorry Kratos…I've failed again…_

* * *

**MAN am I evil. As you can see, this chapter was certainly very Lloyd-centric. I know it was short, but you guys wanted an update and I won't have time for another for at least a week. I apologize for my idiocy, and I swear it won't happen again.**

**! – Have you ever noticed that, even though he wields two swords, Lloyd swings only his right? I'm serious! This is easiest to see with the Material Blades, as they are different in appearance. That was when I first noticed it. He only swung with Vorpal Blade! I tried all sorts of techs, and even in Sword Rain and the like he only used the right one! Try it! (and correct me if I'm wrong. I'm really sure I'm not, though.)**

**See you all soon!**


	10. Infiltration

**Hey.**

**Yeah, yeah, I know. This chapter's late. So sue me, I have lots of other things going on right now that (Unfortunately) take high priority over fanfiction. I apologize.**

**I do not own Tales of Symphonia. Aaron, Kyle, and Orois are mine.**

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Two Worlds, One Soul

Chapter XI – Infiltration

* * *

Kratos fell to his knees. _No…not Lloyd too…I've lost him again. Please Martel…don't let me lose him again…don't let me be all alone…_

"Kratos…" said Aaron.

Either Kratos didn't hear, or he didn't listen.

"I think it's best if we give him a little time first. Let's get the others." Said Sam.

The three terrans made their rounds about the house to rouse the unconscious Symphonians.

* * *

"Ouch…my aching head." Said Genis, holding his head and sitting up. 

"Mmph. Hud hoo meeze gemmof huf hi?" said Presea, whom Genis was still groggily sitting on.

"Oh!" said Genis, hurriedly standing and helping Presea to her feet. "I'm so sorry about that…" he said, his face flaming red.

"Do not worry, I am fine." She said. Nevertheless, she staggered back when she tried to move. Genis caught her and handed her an ice pack.

* * *

Sheena came to slowly, and with the help of Kyle, stood shakily, looking around for her cards. Kyle handed her the shredded pieces. 

"Sorry about those, I hope you have more with you." He said.

"Ah, that's okay…too bad though, these were some of my best…I'll get that bastard for this!" she muttered.

* * *

Regal and Raine came to quickly, which was fortunate, as their healing abilities were sorely needed. The terrans could deal with lumps on your head, sword wounds were beyond what they usually dealt with. 

Raine, after dealing with the numerous slashes on Yuan's body, attended to the rest of the company. Meanwhile, Aaron collected the steak knives from the living room, despairing when he found one stuck in the drywall.

"Crap, I'll have to patch that up before Dad sees it and totally flips out." He lamented.

"Could everyone please come into the kitchen? We need to make a plan." Came Yuan's voice.

They were all gathered at the table in a few minutes, minus one stoic Seraphim.

"Where'd Kratos go?" asked Colette.

"I thought it would be wise to leave him alone for a while…he's not in the mood to talk right now…" said Raine.

"So…what do we do now? We have no idea where Orois went, or what he'll do next," said Genis.

"Actually, we might." Said Kyle.

"What do you mean?" asked Sheena.

"Well, from what I heard of his conversation, he's following something done once by a man named Enishi…I had always though he was made up, but I guess I was wrong." Said Aaron.

"What do you mean 'thought he was made up'? Is he some sort of legend?" asked Yuan.

"Not really. Have a look at this." Sam said, producing a volume of Rurouni Kenshin manga. "He's copying this story, which we supposed was fiction, but now I guess isn't."

Kyle continued. "Enishi tried to get revenge on the main character, Kenshin, for a misunderstood killing long ago. His revenge was called Jinchu, and it involves psychologically tormenting your victim before slowly killing them."

"Our guess is that he's going to do something else that will torment Kratos, possibly something about Anna." Said Aaron.

"What he has in mind, we have no way of knowing. Our best bet is to track him down before he can do any more damage." Said Sam. "It's a pity we have no idea where he went."

"That's not exactly true, you know." Said Sheena. "There are guardian tracers on all of us, just in case something like this happens."

"But didn't you say before that the signal was too weak to detect?" asked Colette.

"That was when Lloyd was in a separate universe." Said Zelos. "It's a little bit different now."

"Orois' mana amplification will also make it easier to detect the tracer." Said Regal.

"Hey, you're right! Wow, we'd better go tell Kratos the good news!" said Genis.

"No. Let's locate Lloyd first. It would do him good to be alone for a while." Said Yuan.

Sam and Sheena looked doubtful. "If you say so, Yuan." Said Sam.

Kratos was still on the deck, half sitting, half standing, and still staring at the spot where Lloyd had vanished. He was shell-shocked to the point where he was numb, and not just from his Cruxis Crystal. This was beyond physical pain, just _physical_ hurt. He felt that, once again, a piece of his soul had been ripped out. As he sat and stared, he felt something stirring inside his chest. Where there was previously nothing but cold, sturdy resolve, there was now doubt.

His emotional shell had cracked.

With that chink in his psychological armor, the emotions came forth in a flood that almost overwhelmed him. He finally succumbed, and a single tear appeared on his cheek. But he was not one to cry. He struggled to compose himself, and shakily rose.

He looked up at the sickle moon above, and he felt a surge of flaming hatred for the man who had vanished at that spot. He would be found. He _would_ pay.

"You've made a fatal mistake, Orois. Nothing will stop me. I will chase you to the ends of this earth if I have to. You will not escape me." He swore darkly.

* * *

"I call upon the source of Heaven and Earth and everything in between. The King of all, I summon thee! Come! Origin!" called Sheena. 

_I have come. What do you require?_

"Lloyd Irving is missing, kidnapped. Please, search for his signal."

_As you wish._

Origin focused his power. A bright white beam shot off into the distance. Origin nodded.

_That is where he can be found._

"Then please, take us there!" said Colette.

_I dare not._

"What? Why?" asked Raine.

"I would assume it is because of Orois' amplification field." Said Yuan.

"If the king of the Summon Spirits were to get to close to him, the Mana that radiates from him might have disastrous repercussions." Said Regal.

_You are correct._

"Well, he appeared in close quarters before, why didn't anything happen that time?" asked Genis.

_There was some effect. My strike was far more powerful than I intended. It was meant to root him to the ground, instead it picked him up and threw him._

"Odd…very odd…" muttered Raine.

"Well, can you at least take us close?" asked Kyle.

_If you will it._

"Then let us go." Said Regal.

Origin began to cast the teleportation spell, but Aaron stopped him.

"Hang on just a minute. Let us get some weapons before we go. We're not going to let ourselves be a liability for you guys, and there's no way in hell you're leaving us behind."

"Well, hurry then." Said Raine.

The three rushed off and in a few minutes returned. Aaron bore a pair of serrated kitchen knives long enough to be shortswords and a dozen shorter ones in a makeshift carrier on his belt. Kyle had two long seven-iron golf clubs across his back and a steel baseball bat in his hand. Sam carried a vicious-looking three-pronged garden digger-thing.

"Shall we?"

In a bright flash of light, the fourteen companions vanished.

* * *

They appeared at the top of a pine-covered ridge overtop a mountain-ringed valley. Looking down, they saw a large, mansion-like structure, which they assumed to be Orois' headquarters. It looked, for all intents and purposes, to be the mountain retreat for some rich company exec, but they knew the truth. Origin could not be mistaken. This was the base of their enemy. 

As soon as Origin dissolved into motes of light, Kratos' azure wings flared out and he lifted off, overcome with his newfound battle-lust. Yuan quickly jumped up and grabbed him by the leg.

"YUAN! RELASE ME!" he roared, the fires of rage in his eyes flaring even brighter.

"Quickly! Help me hold him down!" called Yuan.

The companions struggled to restrain the seraphim. It was no easy task, Kratos fought them like a madman. Which, for all intents and purposes, he was. His legendary self-control was gone, snatched away along with his son.

"I know just the thing to fix him." Said Genis. "SPREAD!"

The icy-cold jet of water brought back enough of Kratos' sanity for him to calm down. They spared no expense, however, and tied him up too.

"Sorry." He said simply. Looking down at his bonds, he added, "But is this really necessary?"

"I'm sorry, old friend, but yes. I can certainly understand your feelings, but you're going to have to keep a cooler head to get through this." Said Yuan.

"The last thing you want to do is go in there with absolutely nothing but rage. You'll get yourself into a trap so fast you won't know what hit you." Said Kyle.

"You have to remember, that's exactly what he wants." Said Sheena, nodding sagely.

"Hn." Said Kratos. **(Yeah yeah, I know…Heero's line…so sue me. Well, don't really…)**

"Now…how do we get in?" wondered Genis, "I don't really think we should go waltzing in the front door, that's never a good idea."

"And from your story, Dad, the roof is probably not too safe either…"

"Let's just go down there and look for an opening. Knowing him, he'll have a small army of followers, so one of them will probably have a map of sorts we can use." Said Kratos.

"And between Raine and me, we can probably hack a computer." Said Sam.

"Since when can you hack a computer?" asked Aaron.

"I can do lots of stuff you don't know about." She said.

"Umm, moving on, let's go already!" said Zelos.

"Agreed. Any time we waste could be harmful to Lloyd." Said Presea.

They started down, in silence, toward the enemy's lair.

* * *

Sneaking from tree to tree, they made it to the walls of the house without detection. Yuan peeked up over the windowsill, and saw nothing. 

"I'm going to open this window and see if there's anyone inside." He said. "If it's clear, we'll get in through here."

He lifted the latch, and swung the window out slightly. Ducking his head in, he quickly glanced from side to side. There was no one there, so he opened it the rest of the way and vaulted inside. He motioned them to wait, and they did so. He crept down the hall and peeked around the corner. Creeping back, he motioned them inside.

The remaining members of the party vaulted the window and entered the hall. Looking around, they noted all semblance of a private vacation home ended at the outer walls. Here it was all gleaming metal, very similar to the renegade bases.

They moved slowly down the gleaming hall, carefully on the watch for enemies.

Aaron began to hum 'Mission Impossible'

Kratos looked back and cocked an eyebrow. Aaron merely shrugged and kept humming.

* * *

They passed several doors, but upon further investigation, held nothing of interest, not even guards. 

"Odd…it's like he wants us to find him…" murmured Yuan.

Kratos had a flashback to his first time he invaded one of Orois' strongholds. At his suggestion, they doubled their lookout. It was lucky they did, because Regal saw a tripwire not moments later.

"Careful." He warned. They slowly stepped over, but in the process hit a security laser. An alarm immediately began blaring.

They heard the tramping of booted feet on metal, and suddenly seven men in blue-black uniforms emblazoned with a silver sickle moon.

Silently, they drew pistols and knives and opened fire. Zelos quickly took a hit, and the idea behind the design of the corridors became quickly apparent. There was no cover whatsoever, even the doors were flush with the walls.

"Guardian!" cried Kratos, shielding most from the fire. Genis took potshots from behind the field with fire and lightning, melting and blasting the weapons. Several soldiers dashed out, slashing wickedly with their knives. Deflecting a bullet off his shield, Kratos slit one man from hip to opposite shoulder. He fell with a scream, his blood pooling. When one man took an all-to-lethal interest in Colette, Aaron flung one of his short knives, which struck the man's temple handle first. He crumpled without a sound. Somehow shunting a bullet off his bat, Kyle brought it smoothly down on his assailant's head. Raine hit one man in the groin with a well-placed staff blow, and a recovered Zelos finished the job. Colette and Regal took hits to the arm and leg respectively, and Raine made short work of getting them back into the fight. Presea bisected the remaining three men in one clean stroke.

Blood was everywhere as a result of the finishing blow, and the easily squeamish Aaron felt like he was going to faint. Genis cleared the mess with spread, and a recover spell courtesy of Raine, and he immediately felt better.

They moved on, encountering several similar troops of men. Raine dutifully healed the unfortunately numerous gunshot and knife wounds that resulted.

"Man… I hope we get to the control room soon, I can't take much more of this…" groaned Zelos. Genis nodded assent. They were all battered and bloodied, run low on mana and weapons. Aaron only had his two long knives left, refusing to pull the others from dead corpses. Kyle's bat was a bent mess, one man had worn a helmet that resisted his best efforts.

"Plus, this siren is getting really annoying," said Sheena, gesticulating to indicating the wailing klaxon that hadn't ended since the first fight.

"I'd have to agree with you there, honey."

"This is not the time for idle talking. We must keep moving" said Kratos.

They eventually came to a door that had a black crest embossed into the metal.

"This could be important." Said Aaron.

"Let's take a look." Said Sam.

They opened the door.

Colette screamed.

* * *

**That's all for now folks, please review until I get the next one up!**


	11. Reverse Psychology?

**Okay, I admit it.**

**I'm not going to toss this one off to being to busy. Sure I went away a LOT, but the truth of the matter is that I didn't sit down and type this damn thing up when I had the chance to. (The actual chapter has been written for probably a week now. I just hadn't typed it.) For those of you who read and enjoy my writing, I sincerely apologize for making you wait a month between updates. I hope you forgive a lazy, undeserving author.**

**Standard disclaimers apply.

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Two Worlds, One Soul

Chapter 11 – Reverse Psychology?

* * *

Colette screamed and fainted dead away. She hit the metal floor with a thud, the others to busy staring to catch her. 

In the center of the room was a black metal chair, almost eerily reminiscent of one you might find in a dentist's office. Several steel bands strapped a familiar red-clothed form to it. A tangle of threatening-looking black wires crawled down Lloyd's arms and chest, embedding tiny silver needles into his skin. Every twenty seconds or so, purple sparks would shoot up the wires and disappear from sight behind Lloyd's head. A strange, clear faceplate was clamped over his, well, face with two black metal straps. Red characters that no one recognized flitted across the inner surface of it, and a glowing black sigil on the outer side pulsed ominously.

"Lloyd!" cried Genis.

Kratos advanced slowly, wary of the obvious trap. With Raine's assistance, ("Fascinating!") he carefully inspected the metal straps for some way to undo them. The rest of the group fanned out to inspect the rest of the surprisingly small chamber.

"No guards…" said Sheena "No alarms…this is really odd. I don't like the look of this at all."

"Not even cameras." Agreed Yuan, "This is really starting to worry me."

"It appears as though Orois _wants_ us to rescue Lloyd." Said Presea.

"Kratos, I'd be extremely careful if I were you…" said Sam.

"Yeah, this whole situation is screaming 'TRAP!"' agreed Kyle, nodding.

"I am aware of the risks." Said Kratos. With the hiss of releasing gas, the bands holding Lloyd popped open. "Now…to release this mask. Raine?"

"Those four gems where the straps meet the plate. They might be release switches." She said, without looking up from the mass of black wires.

"What do you think those wires do?" asked Aaron.

"They appear to be embedded at key points in Lloyd's mana network," mused the Professor, as another wave of purple energy shot up the black threads.

"So the wires are draining his mana?" asked Genis.

"It would appear that the device is powering itself using Lloyd's mana." Said Regal.

"Hey! Come look at this!" Said Aaron. He was looking at the back of Lloyd's head. "These wires are attached to that mask-thing!"

"And your point is…?" said Zelos.

"So removing it will probably break some kind of circuit…"

"I've got it!" said Kratos, as he lifted the faceplate away. Instantly, it went dark, and Lloyd's eyes snapped open.

"No! It's a trap!" he cried.

The world went white, so intensely bright that Kratos dropped the faceplate to-

* * *

-throw his hands up to protect his eyes. 

The blinding light faded, and Kratos lowered his arms. What he saw now was definitely not what he had left behind.

Gone was the cold metal room, gone was the strange device that held his son. His son had vanished, along with the rest of his friends and companions. In their place was a scene that he hadn't seen in nearly twenty years, a scene he had never thought he would see again.

He was standing in the middle of a forest, but he wasn't really standing. He was floating about a foot off the ground, and as he looked down, he realized he was translucent. He was like a shade floating through the woods. Suddenly, two figures and an animal burst from the undergrowth. One was himself, running swiftly beside a brown-haired woman he knew to be Anna, who was riding atop the white and green form of Noishe. She held a baby tightly to her breast, and red exsphere glinted in the dappled sunlight.

They scrambled almost madly along, vaulting rocks, jumping logs, and blasting straight through underbrush. They approached him rapidly, and passed through him as if he weren't there. Which he really wasn't, he reminded himself. _What the hell is going on here?_

Anna threw a glance over her shoulder, and their eyes seemed to meet. Kratos felt a twinge in his heart at the fear and the pain in her eyes.

Seemingly in response, several Desians burst from the foliage in pursuit. He and Anna increased their pace, and Kratos found himself pulled along behind them. Apparently, whoever was controlling this vision was going to force him to follow himself.

The Desians were closing on his past self. The trees opened up, and they found themselves on an expanse of grass before a cliff. Kratos saw himself stop and turn, his sword already halfway from its sheath as he yelled.

"Anna, I'll hold them off! Take Lloyd and run!" his past self cried, cutting into the first of the Desians. He fell back, but was replaced by three more. Kratos watched as he was surrounded, wanting desperately to help but was unable to.

"No! I won't leave you behind, Kratos!" she called back. She slid off of Noishe, and the giant dog immediately joined the fray, his massive muzzle going straight for the throat of the nearest Desian.

"GO!" Kratos yelled.

Reluctantly, she dashed off along the cliff edge, skirting the Desians who were focused on himself. Kratos saw that she had made it safely into a stand of trees farther down the ridge. He felt his astral body begin to follow her, and floated noiselessly after his wife.

Anna sat Lloyd down on a rock and perched herself on a stump. She rubbed her exsphere with her opposite hand. It was nearly time. She had an hour, or less, before she would change, at the most. A tear dripped down her face.

Kratos watched in silent torment. He longed to go to his wife, to comfort her. But he was only a spectator in this. He was forced to watch. And he knew what was going to happen, which only made it worse.

At that moment, Kratos and Noishe moved into the trees. They were both covered in blood, but it was hard to tell if it was theirs or others.

"Kratos! Are you all right?" asked Anna. She rose and embraced him.

"Yes. I'll live." Kratos watched himself say. "What about you?"

"I'm running out of time, Kratos." She said.

"How much is left? There's a dwarf right near here and I'm sure that he can-"

"There isn't enough time for that. I probably have less than an hour before it happens. Before I become…something other than human." She shuddered.

"Anna, I…What can I do?" The news had shaken Kratos. He had thought that there would be enough time to save her. The feeling was just as terrible the second time.

"You can promise me two things." Said Anna.

"Anything."

"I need you to take care of Lloyd for me when I'm gone. He'll need someone to look after him." She picked up Lloyd and placed him in Kratos' arms.

"Anna, I'm sure that we can find a way to-" Anna cut him off, putting two fingers on his lips.

"Kratos. I've run out of time here. This can only be stopped one way."

"No…"

"Yes. The second thing…I want you to…" her breath caught, but she continued. "To kill me."

"No, Anna…I couldn't, I just couldn't…"

"Kratos, please. If the transformation continues, I'll become a monster. I'll be a threat to you and to Lloyd, and you'll have to kill me then. Please, Kratos…I want to die human." Once again, a single tear ran down her face.

Kratos watched himself take Lloyd off to the side, behind some bushes. He watched as he drew his sword and faced his wife. He watched as he jammed the blade into the ground, and embraced his love for the final time.

"Oh, Kratos…thank you."

Kratos watched, some strange force forbidding him to even look away as he saw himself step back and pick up his sword.

"Anna, I'm sorry…" Kratos let out a strangled cry as he watched himself plunge his blade into the heart of his wife. Tears coursed down both their faces as the past Kratos caught Anna's body and held her as she died.

"Thank…you, Kratos…" murmured Anna. Her eyes closed, her breathing stopped, and two men let loose an anguished cry…

---FLASH---

Kratos found himself standing in the middle of a forest, floating like a shade of himself among the trees. Suddenly, two figures and an animal burst from the undergrowth. One was himself, running swiftly beside a brown-haired woman…

* * *

The remainder of the company found itself imprisoned in a very large jail cell, not unlike those in the Renegade Base, but much larger. One by one, they began to regain consciousness, slowly sitting up and massaging their heads. Involuntary teleportation was not a comfortable process. 

"Ooh…my aching head…" moaned Zelos, leaning heavily upon the gleaming chrome wall.

"Could someone please tell me what the _hell _just happened?" asked Aaron irritably, as he massaged his temples with one hand.

"If I had a guess, it would be that the device's removal caused an automatic teleportation sequence that would deposit anyone who tried to free the one trapped in it to a containment cell. I believe the headaches we are experiencing are the backlash of the transit." Said Raine.

"So now I have some sort of teleportation hangover? Wonderful." Said Sheena dryly. As Raine began to examine the lock to the cell, Sheena glanced around, surveying the cell and its occupants. They were all battered and battle-weary, the Terrans most of all. Because of her upbringing, her training, and the Regeneration Journey, she had grown used to the fighting, the killing. It was clear that Aaron, Kyle and Sam were not, however. They all had a slightly haunted look in their eyes, and Aaron looked like he was ready to puke. She walked over to were the three sat, and slid down cross-legged in front of them.

You guys okay?" she asked.

She received a collective look that said; _do you even need to ask?_

"No, I suppose not." Sheena said. She let out a long sigh. "I know how you feel. I was the same way when I first began. I was terrified and felt terrible when I was forced to kill. I hated it. But sometimes…sometimes it's necessary. I know it feels wrong. It should. Taking a life is a horrible thing to do. But you have to remember what Orois is willing to do is he isn't stopped."

"Yes, I think we're all aware of that. But I… I wasn't prepared for this. None of us were." Said Aaron, waving his hand in a motion that encompassed himself, his friend, and his sister. "I feel so sick inside. The blood, the death around me…I'm not ready for this. I have a feeling I never will be. And I can't help but think back…those men I threw knives at…_did they get back up? Did I kill them? _The weight of that…it's unbearable." His eyes were downcast, and he looked like he was going to be sick.

"It anyone knows anything about the weight of deaths on your shoulders, it should be me." Said Sheena.

"What do you mean?" asked Aaron. Sheena's eyes closed for a moment, and suddenly, Volt appeared above her in a flash of purple sparks.

"Oh. I forgot all about that…I'm sorry. What you've gone through is so much more than this, and here I am going to pieces…" said Aaron, sounding slightly forlorn. Volt vanished as quickly as he had come.

"The thing is, Sheena, Most people in this world aren't prepared to face things like this. Most of us aren't able to handle fighting a true evil, someone like Orois. " Said Kyle.

"If it weren't for you guys, we wouldn't be here at all, Origin notwithstanding. We can talk tough all we want, but very rarely will a normal person put their money where their mouth is, at least in this regard." Agreed Sam.

**Rather morbid today, aren't I? Anyhoo…**

"But you guys _will. _That's what's different. Regardless of who's with you, the decision to take a stand and fight is made individually. You chose to stand. You made the choice to risk the danger for the sake of someone you don't even know. Well, sort of…" Sheena said shrugging. "But really. Even if you're not ready, even if you're carrying the weight of blood on your hands, you're still here. You haven't tried to run. You guys stuck with us, and that counts for more than anything." She laid her hand on Aaron's shoulder reassuringly. "And I promise you. You will get over the weight. As heavy as it is, it can still be shed. You are no less of a person because you fought for the life of another." She removed her hand and stood. "Now. Let's find a way out of this shiny silver hell!"

Enthused and reassured, they got up to help.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Genis and Presea were slumped together in the opposite corner, and both woke up to the sight of each other's faces uncomfortably close together.

"AAH!" Genis yelped, jumping back. Presea sat up quickly, both of them wearing embarrassed expressions.

"This is the third time we have awoken and found ourselves touching. The odds of this happening coincidentally are very slim, indeed." Said Presea.

"Yeah, that is really weird that it keeps happening." Said Genis, suddenly becoming keenly interested in the ceiling.

"Do you know why?" asked Presea.

"It could be that the author just has no skills whatsoever at subtle romantic development, but that's just a theory." Said Genis, still addressing the ceiling.

Presea cocked an eyebrow. "Genis…are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Huh…?" Genis grasped her meaning after a moment's thought, and slapped a hand over his mouth. "Y-you didn't hear anything!" he turned bright red and refused to say anything more.

* * *

And in the third corner…

Lloyd slowly opened his eyes to find himself staring straight into huge blue ones, inches from his face. The first thing he did was scream in terror. Colette scrambled backwards in surprise, but swiftly lost her balance (No surprise). She tumbled backwards, then sat up and flung herself back into his arms, hugging him so tightly that he had trouble breathing.

"Gah…Colette…lemmego…too tight...can't…breathe!" he said, gasping in relief as she released her hold.

"Oh Lloyd, I'm so glad you're awake…Are you hurt? You are OK, right?" Lloyd held up a hand.

"Easy, easy…I'm fine. Where the hell am I? What's going on?"

"We appear to be imprisoned in a large prison cell of some sort. Orois' machine that you were held captive on sent us here when Kratos triggered a trap." Said Yuan.

"And speaking of that machine, what exactly does it do? We could not discern its purpose." Said Regal.

"Well…it makes you see visions." Said Lloyd. A shadow crossed his face, but only briefly. "Visions…of your darkest hour."

"Iselia…" Murmured Colette.

"Yes. I saw, over and over again, how an act of kindness resulted in the death of many, the destruction of a city, and my banishment from my own home. I saw how naive I was, how my own ideals resulted in the death of others, and how even those you trust sometimes turn against you."

"But Lloyd…that was what steeled you to go out and fight the Desians. It was what gave you the motivation to defeat them, so it would never happen again. Because of what happened at Iselia, you fought so hard and prevented Palmacosta from being destroyed by Magnius, and every other town and city in Sylvarant."

"Yeah, I know. I think what he was trying to do was to demoralize me, to get me so distraught by what had happened in the past that I wouldn't be able to do anything in the present. But it didn't work. It's only made me even surer of my vows. I swore I would destroy the Desians, I swore I would never let cruelty go unpunished. I've completed the first. Now it's time for the second."

A hiss was heard, and the chromed door slid into the wall. "I've got it!" said Raine.

Lloyd stood, a determined look in his eyes and on his face like they had never seen before.Aaron imagined the coming fight between Lloyd and Orois...and felt sorry for Orois. "Come on guys, I've got a score to settle."

* * *

**I do sincerely hope that this will be good enough to make up for the month-long wait. If it isn't, feel free to flame me, god knows I deserve worse than that.**

**Until next chapter (Which, might I add, is the finale)**

_**May Dragons fly forever in your dreams.**_

**- ZZ**

** p.s. - I'm probably going to finish this story before I update Heart, Soul and Sword again. I apologize to those of you who are annoyed by this, but part of the lapse was to completely overhaul the plotline of HSS, so I promise you, it'll be worth the wait.  
**


	12. Final Round Part one

**Hey!**

**Here we go…THE FINALE OF TWO WORLDS, ONE SOUL! Yes folks, it's the episode you've all been waiting for, the death of Orois! (Cheers) Well, what am I keeping you waiting for? Let's go!**

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Two Worlds, One Soul

Chapter XII – Final Round…Fight

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At first, he was only aware of the anguish, the pain, and a burning rage, slowly growing to white-hot intensity. As a single spark grows into a raging inferno, one thought grew stronger and more forceful in his mind. _Orois will pay for putting me through this hell again and again. He will pay. He MUST pay!_ He repeated this like a mantra, over and over as the vision began again.

Suddenly, all the colors of the world began to liquefy and run together, as if he was looking at the scene before him through a rain-soaked window. The colors ran more and more, slowly darkening as they faded to black. _Am I…dying?_ He asked himself. The sounds of the world were interrupted by the sharp hiss of gas escaping high pressure and the clank and scrape of moving metal. He opened his eyes to light, which was odd, because he never remembered closing them. An odd fog obscured this new world. He could make out a fuzzy blob of brown and red on a black background with other shapes moving behind the red, but the details were hidden._ Is this some new vision?_ He asked himself in confusion. Suddenly, the fog lifted, removed in a sheet by red-gloved hands. _A faceplate._ He realized. Then the plate was lowered and Kratos found himself staring into the face of his son.

"Lloyd…" Kratos murmured.

"Dad…" said Lloyd. Kratos was slightly taken aback by the fierce expression smoldering in his son's eyes, but he remained silent.

"Wait! The teleportation! Get back!" cried Kratos, forcefully shoving his son out of harm's way.

Moments passed. Nothing happened.

"…" said Lloyd.

"…?" said Kratos, raising an eyebrow to accentuate his needless question.

"Odd…shouldn't we had warped or something?" said Kyle.

"My guess is that it hasn't recharged enough to send twelve people a fair distance again so quickly." Said Raine from the background.

"Oh! Mr. Kratos! I'm so glad to see you're all right!" chirped Colette, wearing her trademark big-eyed grin.

"You are all right, ne?" asked Sheena.

Kratos took a moment to consider this. "Yes, Sheena, if you would call a forced reliving of your darkest hour over and over again 'all right'."

"Dad, I know how you feel." Said Lloyd. Kratos noted that the determination in his eyes sparked brighter when he said this.

"What did you see?" he asked.

"Iselia."

Kratos nearly winced. That had almost broken Lloyd when it first happened, he could not imagine what it would feel like run through over and over again.

Lloyd interrupted his thoughts. "What did he show you?"

Kratos sat up, and with Lloyd's assistance, sprang off the chain onto the steely floor. "Anna." He said. Lloyd could swear that he saw a flash of anger in his father's eyes, but it was swiftly gone.

Lloyd did wince. He knew how painful it had been for himself to kill someone he barely knew, but to see yourself kill your own wife, again and again and again…

"Dad. You know what he's trying to do to us, right?"

"If you mean torture us so horribly in our minds that our bodies will be unable to fight, then yes, I do." Kratos' eyes flared with that terrible anger again. "And I have no intention of letting him get away with his mind games. I've got two scores to settle with him now." The cold fury of his words seemed to chill the very air around him.

"Well, this should prove interesting." Said Regal, an expression that was almost a smirk appeared on his face.

"Not only have his underhanded tactics failed, they have only enflamed the anger and increased the determination of those he tried to demoralize." Said Presea, whose face showed no emotion.

"Now he's going to have to deal with seven seasoned combat veterans, three inexperienced but resourceful terrans, and two angels of retribution who're pissed as _hell_." Said Aaron, grinning widely.

"So what do you say?" said Sam, flourishing her garden tool. "Let's go kick some bad-guy butt!"

"All for complete and total, full-out ass-kicking, say 'Aye'" said Zelos. Fifteen leathal devices of all descriptions were thrust into the air as fifteen voices cried 'AYE!'

---------------

**All right, I'm sorry for stopping it here, but I've just left for a beach vacation and I'm not going to feel like writing anything for a while. Didn't want to leave you with nothing for a week and a half after the huge delays that I've made you sit through with no word from me. I'll finish it up when I get back Until then, See Ya!**


	13. Final Round Part Two

**Here we go. The final battle, the last stand. I'm tempted to throw in another plot twist and make this even longer, but to tell the truth I'm running out of inspiration (and motivation, to tell you the truth) Although it does make me a little bit sad, this _was _my first major work on this site, it is time to draw it to a close.**

**I'd also like to tell you that I am insanely happy that I have over 100 reviews! I never, even in my wildest fantasies, dreamed that I would ever write something that popular. **

**THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!**

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

-------------------- (I curse the divider glitch)

Two Worlds, One Soul

Chapter XII.V – Final Round…Fight! – Part II

--------------------

"This is it, Orois. Your time has come!"

With that proclaimation, the thirteen heroes ran out of the horrific room and dashed down the gleaming metal corridor.

Guards threw themselves upon the heroes in endless waves, but they were instantly thrown aside like leaves in a hurricane. They would not allow themselves to be slowed by such minor foes.

Lloyd led the pack, the fiery red and icy blue of his blades swirling around him in a nimbus of deadly power and skill. None of the guards could stand against him, no matter how many of them came at him. Beside him was his father, and his image would have put Akroma to shame. The feathers from brilliant his wings cut into the guards like razors, and his sword formed a shell of gleaming lethal steel that shredded all who opposed him.

Of course, all such perfection is not meant to last forever.

Lloyd came skidding to a halt outside a vault-like door set into the wall, with no warning whatsoever. As the laws of physics dictate, Kratos remained in motion for only a brief instant before his advance was abruptly halted when he slammed into his descendant. Then Yuan hit Kratos, and Sheena hit Yuan, and Zelos hit Sheena (in the most perverted way he could), and so on and so forth until the entire company was in a pile on the cold chrome floor.

Aaron, Kyle and Genis untangled themselves first and went to help sort out the knot that was Lloyd, Kratos, Zelos, Yuan and Sheena. Sam helped Presea and Colette to their feet and then went to find Raine and Regal among the throng. When all was sorted out, Genis and Presea looked at each other, Genis blushed, and they both shrugged and decided not to comment.

"Lloyd…" Sheena and Kratos nearly growled.

"Look, I'm sorry about the lack of warning, but we need to stop here." Explained the Eternal Swordsman, a sheepish grin on his face.

"I thought Orois was the priority right now." Said Yuan.

"Yeah, aren't we just wasting time here?" said the Terrans, more or less together.

"I was just thinking…" Lloyd began.

"Thinking? You? Hahahahahahahahaha!" said Genis, clutching his gut. He trailed off. "Oops, sorry, I thought that was the punchline." He shrugged, grinning. The company laughed, and Lloyd fumed.

"AHEM!" said Lloyd. They stopped laughing. "I was just _thinking_," he glared pointedly at Genis, " that it might be dangerous for you to go into battle with those." He indicated Aaron's cleavers, Kyle's golf clubs, and Sam's garden tool. "So I thought we'd make a stop at the armory."

The silver door hissed open to reveal the greatest treasure trove of weapons that they had ever laid eyes on.

Instantly five makeshift weapons clattered to the floor from nerveless hands, shortly followed by lower jaws. The entire group moved into the room, marveling over the amazing cache of weapons of extremely high caliber.

As Raine sung the praises of several objects that apparently bore close resemblance to ancient artifacts from Symphonia, Aaron went into a respectable imitation of Ruin-mode over a large rack of assorted Japanese weaponry. Kyle and Sam backed nervously away, shaking their heads almost sadly.

"I don't know him, I swear." They both said.

Eventually, Kyle chose a long scimitar made of some strange black metal. The sharpened edge was golden, and there were intricate runes etched in gold along the length of the blade. Its hilt was wrapped in red cloth, and the handguard was gold, too.

Sam came over from a weapons rack in the back of room with a staff. It was four feet long, a slim rod of silver capped with a golden dragon's claw. Clutched in the talons was a diamond-like crystal that shimmered with an inner light that reflected all colors of the rainbow.

But it was Aaron's selection that really blew them away. It appeared to be a plain sword, with no special ornamentation. The katana was enclosed in a simple black lacquered metal sheath, and no jewels were set into the hilt. But Aaron had found it on a golden shrinelike plinth along one wall, spotlighted and giving off an aura of power and grandeur.

"What the heck? I assumed you'd go for the one over there with the dragon-shaped hilt and the rune-covered blade, not something as plain as that!" exclaimed Kyle.

"This is special. I can tell." Said Aaron.

"How so?" asked Regal, intrigued.

"I don't really know…somehow, I can feel a great power emanating from the sword…and something more. Something…I have no words for it. A…_consciousness_. Like the sword has a purpose, and knows it does…It feels something going on, and wants to be used to stop it…" Aaron said. Suddenly, he felt that he shouldn't be holding this blade. He wasn't worthy. "This sword was used by a great man once…" he murmured.

"Draw the sword." Said Lloyd.

Aaron drew the blade smoothly from the sheath. When they saw the blade, the terrrans knew instantly why Aaron had gotten those feelings from the blade.

"Sakabato…" said Aaron, in awe.

"No, not just sakabato…" said Sam.

"_Kenshin's_ sakabato!" murmured Kyle.

"Dude, what's up with that sword?" said Zelos.

"Well, that just blew the moment." Said Sheena, rolling her eyes and punching the philanderer.

"Who's Kenshin?" asked Colette.

"And why is a reverse-bladed sword so important? Or useful, for that matter?" asked Raine.

"I can't see it as being very effective in combat." observed Presea.

"Allow us to clarify." Said Aaron. "Himura Kenshin was a man who lived in a country called Japan a long time ago. As we already told you, he was the target of a similar Jinchu that Orois has declared on Kratos by a man named Enishi."

"Kenshin fought with a sakabato, a reverse-bladed sword, to uphold his vow not to kill, taken after he mistakenly struck down his own wife." Continued Sam.

"After a fight with a man named Seta Sorijou (sp?), Kenshin's original sakabato broke. He went to its maker for a new one, only to find that the original swordmaker was dead, and his son would never make blades of war again." Added Kyle.

"It was discovered, however, that the master had made one last sakabato before he died. It was the greatest of the three, and offered as a god-sword in a temple." Said Sam

"Um, what? Greatest of the three? You only mentioned two!" said Genis.

"I can probably answer. It seems similar enough." Said Sheena.

"Carry on." Kyle nodded.

"A swordsmith generally makes several swords at one time. Occasionally, one of the blades will come out incredibly flawless. When this happens, the sword is declared 'shikuchi' **(I _know_ that's wrong, but I don't have the manga to go by. Correct me!)** and will never be drawn. It is placed in a temple as an offering to the gods."

"Thanks, Sheena.' Said Sam.

"No problem."

"Anyways, Kenshin was given this sword to save the swordsmith's son, and he used it ever since. What I think I was feeling was…I don't know…some of kenshin's spirit in the sword. He had this thing; 'With this sword, at least those with sight can be protected'. He wielded his post-war sword to defend those who couldn't defend themselves. I know Kratos would likely be defending me, but I suppose that the sword wants to prevent another person suffering from Jinchu, like it ended Enishi's."

"So you'll take the sword?" asked Yuan.

"Though I don't feel I'm worthy, yes. I'll take it. In Kenshin's name, I'll help stop Enishi again!" he said, and sheathed the blade again.

Suddenly, Lloyd spoke up. "Hey! Where's Kratos go?"

Everyone spoke at once. "Orois."

Yuan said something in a language that they suspected hadn't been spoken in thousands of years. It didn't sound nice.

--------------------

They ran down the hallway as fast as their legs would take them. Guards were cut down swiftly and without mercy. They all knew they had to get to Kratos as fast as they could. His life might depend on it.

"Damn him, damn him, damn him!" shouted Yuan. "Why does he always try to take on this guy alone? He _needs_ our help, but he's too damn proud to admit it!"

"No." said Lloyd. "He doesn't want us to get hurt for his sake. This is his personal battle, anyways." Nevertheless, he poured on more speed.

"Hey guys! If you have wings, why the hell are you running? We'll catch up! Go!" yelled Sheena.

Immediately the chrome walls were awash with light as purple, pink, orange, and golden wings flared into light and carried the angels up and away.

"I realize this isn't quite the time, but I _still_ think it's funny that his wings are purple!" said Aaron, overloudly.

They laughed, and a ringing rebuttal came from down the hall, in the form of "I heard that!"

--------------------

Eventually, they arrived at a dead end. Just as they arrived, they caught a glimpse of purple-pink feathers vanishing upwards, but nothing more

"Huh? What's going on here?" said Aaron.

"Where'd they go?" said Sam.

"We checked all the doors on the way here, there's no turnoffs…" said Genis.

"Perhaps there is a hidden switch?" said Presea.

"Let's look!" said Sheena.

After a few minutes of searching, Regal noticed a small symbol etched in the metal of the wall at eye height. He pressed it, and there was a rumbling noise. Suddenly, the floor panel began to rise.

"There must be some sort of elevator mechanism hidden somewhere!" said Raine.

"Look, the ceiling's moving too!" said Genis. And so it was. The pod, as it appeared to be, was rising up a shaft into another level of the fortress.

--------------------

As they climbed, they became aware of a noise beyond the quiet humming of the elevator. It seemed to be music, very soft, but getting louder.

"Jeez, I hate elevator music!" said Aaron.

"I don't think that this is your average elevator music, Aaron." Said Kyle.

"Huh? Why"

"Listen! Don't you recognize it?" asked Sam.

They listened, and as it grew louder, Aaron's face lit up in recognition. "Fatalize!" he exclaimed.

"Elaborate?" queried Presea.

"'Fatalize' is the battle theme for your fight with Abyssion." Said Kyle. "Though why it's playing now is rally beyond me."

"I'd assume because of that?" said Regal.

They turned and looked. They had reached the top, and now were in a larger, more furnished lookout/office/command center. A large circle of black carpet with Orois' insignia on it protruded from one wall, with a desk and several computer screens coming down from the ceiling and up from the desk. On an expanse of unadorned silver flooring in front of a large window was 'that'.

Orois was battling with Lloyd, Kratos, and Yuan, while Colette appeared to be charging up Judgement off to the side, if the spell-circle and crystal feathers flying up around her were any indication..

Orois was in the center of a storm of steel, his knives flying at insane speeds to deflect every blow. Even the combined efforts of the three angels could not break his defenses. They saw him as more of flashing afterimages than true motion. They saw Orois flowing to the side to dodge a swing from Yuan while shunting Lloyd's slashes toward Kratos so both were forced to back off as not to kill each other. They saw Orois hook Yuan's weapon with one dagger and rip it from his hands, spinning it toward Lloyd, who ducked , then lunged low. Orois jumped over Lloyd, one boot smashing him into the ground as the other cracked Yuan's head back. Kratos lunged with a Super Lightining Blade, which Orois dodged, sliding around Kratos to push him into the oncoming lightning bolt.

"He's insanely powerful…" Sheena said.

But so were four angels, and now their friends had come to aid them. Yuan leaped up as the bolt came down, and it twined around his arm, not harming him at all. Lloyd rose, crouching, and Yuan landed on his shoulders. Lloyd sprang up, and Yuan leaped again, heading for Orois' back as he dueled Kratos.

"Spark Impact!" he cried, and slammed his fist into Orois' back. Orois was pounded to the floor, and a bolt of raw power on par with Indignation slammed into him. He screamed, completely engulfed by the beam.

"It's his amplification field! We can use it against him!" cried Raine.

The bolt faded, and Yuan crouched atop a smoking Orois, panting. Abruptly, his eyes blanked, and he fell backward. Sheena rushed in, grabbed him, and hurried out.

"I'm all…right. Used…too much…mana. Give me…a minute…I'll be…fine." said Yuan, his voice a whisper.

"The field must function by drawing mana from your opponents to increase your own power and speed! That's how he's beating the crap out of us!" Raine exclaimed as Regal, Presea and Zelos joined the attack. Orois' mutant exspheres had restored his strength and he was up and fighting again. Colette unleashed Judgement, which slowed him enough for Regal and Zelos to buy Lloyd and Kratos an opening in the assassin's defenses. "And it's just a side effect that it increases the power of our own spells."

Suddenly, the air was felled with black light and flying people. Orois had unleashed his equivalent of Outburst.

"Now! Everyone at once! Take him down!" called Yuan.

"No! Stay out of this!" Yelled Kratos.

"Kratos, you couldn't take him alone last time!" Shouted Genis.

"And he's even more powerful now! Let us help!" Called Sam.

Kratos staggered back in the face of a flurry of blows, but shouted in the reprieve granted by three beams of flame (Amplified Fireball) from Genis, "Just don't get in my way."

Sheena paused a moment, leaping back to the terrans. "I would hang back a bit, it I were you. Don't go in while he's full strength. No offense, but you're not a capable as we are."

"I understand. None of us wants to die here." Said Aaron. Sheena nodded, and flipped back into the fray.

Kratos' words were all they needed to hear. Every melee fighter immediately rushed in and instantly began to push the assassin's defenses to the limit. He was constantly pressed form at least three sides by relentless assault. Lunge in, three attacks, low tech, mid tech, high tech, retreat. Orois was actually receiving wounds now, as it was too much for even him. Every now and then, a spell activator was cried out, and all combatants jumped back, and Orois was struck with an overcharge version of a spell. Slowly, Orois was beginning to wear down. His attacks were slowing, his reaction times decreasing. Unfortunately, this made him draw mana from the combatants all the more, to fuel his insane regenerative powers.

"Now?" asked Kyle.

"Agreed." Said Sam.

"I feel like I should be saying some noble, but I'm fresh out." Aaron grumbled.

Kyle brought out his scimitar from its sheath on his back, and Sam twirled her staff. Aaron drew the sakabato with more than a little reverence.

The three ran foreward just as Genis unleashed Super Spread, whose blast tore Orois' blue-black robes to tatters and pasted in to the ceiling for a good minute. Unfortunately, it was too much for the little mage. He collapsed, his mana overused. To the surprise of some, Presea broke off her attack on Orois to pick up Genis and get him out of the immediate area so Orois' field couldn't drain the little remaining mana from his body.

As Orois' body fell, Sam rushed up beneath him and wound up in a stance a pro baseball player would have envied. "Take this, bastard!" she swung with all her might, the crystal leaving a brilliant trail of light. A sickening _crack_ filled the air as the dragonstaff slammed into his side. He spun, crashed, and slid, and as he staggered to his feet, Kyle was waiting. He took advantage of Orois' weakness, and was actually able to match blows with him for a few minutes. He saw an opening, and took it. He slammed his scimitar into Orois' undamaged side, the golden blade biting deep into ebon armor. Orois staggered, Kyle cried out "Regal! NOW!"

Before Orois could even react, Regal was there. "Crescent Dark Moon!" Three arcing crescent kicks sent Orois sailing skyward, assisted by a triple blow by Yuan, Zelos, and Kratos, each floating slightly higher than the next. At the top of the arc, almost touching the ceiling, waited Lloyd. By he wasn't alone. Gripped by the waist was Aaron, sakabato drawn and gleaming blue-silver in the shadows of the arched ceiling. Orois peaked, and began to fall.

"Lloyd, now!" said Aaron. Lloyd, following the on-the-spot plan, released the young man. Said young man instantly positioned himself in the manner that his sword's former master had so many times.

"_Ryutsuisen! DRAGON HAMMER STRIKE!" _The impact blasted Orois twenty feet down to the floor in a nanosecond. The steel shattered in the blast, and everything went still. Aaron staggered from the pit, swooned, swore, and fell. Sheena caught him, and carried him away to Raine. She knelt over him, staff already glowing with healing power.

Kratos warily approached the hole in the floor. Coughing, he waved his hand to dissipate the black smoke that rose from the crater. _Wait…black smoke?NO!_

"On guard! He's still alive!" he cried.

"Heh heh heh…Too late, Kratos…" said Orois. They whirled. There stood Orois, bleeding, cut and battered, but still very lethal and very much alive. He stood behind Lloyd, one black-gloved hand clamped over the youth's mouth, the other holding a dagger to Lloyd's throat. "Now is the true Jinchu! Feel the agony, Kratos! Despair! Suffer! DIE!"

"NO!" The ringing cry came not from Kratos, but from Lloyd. His brilliant golden wings flared open, the razor-edged crystal shredding through cloth and shearing flesh. Lloyd leapt, spun, and the Material Blades flew from the ground and into his outstretched hands. They floated out before him, and glowed. It grew brighter and brighter, until the Eternal Sword floated before him.

"Now! Unleash your full power!" Lloyd's voice echoed. "_FACLON"S CREST!_"

Genis' kendama was out up in an instant. "_INDIGNANT JUDGEMENT!_!"

Feathers flew around the four angels in a hurricane. "_ULTIMATE JUDGEMENT!_"

"Crescent Dark Moon!" "Fiery Infliction!" "Ray!" The three combined for a never-before-seen Hi-Ougi. "_LUNAR WRATH!_" A crescent moon symbol appeared above Orois, and it burst into blue flames. It crashed down onto Orois, the irony of it all hurting just as much as the strike itself.

"Come on, Sam, let's join the party!"

"Right with you, man!" Power flowed from the crystal on the staff, and Sam cried out the words that came unbidden to her lips "Sunfire Storm!" A vortex of fire flowed from the dragon claw and engulfed the assassin.

Kyle too, felt sense of power welling up inside him. He channeled it down into his blade and brought it up over his head. With a cry of "Vorpal Slicer!" he made a massive overhead slash that sent a shockwave out that sent Orois flying.

"Combo time! _SOLAR FLASH!_" they called. Kyle seemed to get a speed burst, and made eight rapid slashes at 45 degree angles that sent more blades of wind that blasted Orois up into the air... where the air apparently exploded around him in a blinding blast.

"Ready, Sheena?"

"Go, Aaron!" Sheena summoned every last one of the summon spirits, and Aaron charged forward and leapt into the air, aiming for the black figure suspended in the column of holy light from Ultimate Judgement. He trusted the sword to remember what he was about to do. "_KUZU-RYUSEN! NINE-HEADED DRAGON!_" When talking about the battle later, it was sworn that behind Aaron could be seen the shade of a red-haired samurai performing the same attack.

As he made each stroke, a different Summon Spirit poured their power into the blade.

"Ichi! – Gnome! Ni! – Sylph! San! – Undine! Shi! – Efreet! Go! – Celcius! Roku! – Volt! Shichi! – Luna! Hachi! – Shadow! Kyu! - Origin and Maxwell! _SYMPHONIA DRAGON STRIKE!"_

Orois was hit with more power that he had ever thought possible.

Aaron's final stike, his strength enhanced by two Summon Spirits and the spirit of the greatest samurai who ever lived, blasted Orois through the reinforced glass window, and sent him sailing to the ground outside.

Orois was in agony. Every single nerve screamed as he struggled to rise. He knew this was the end, whether Kratos came to finish him off or not.

And in a flash of blue feathers, he had. His worst enemy towered over him, his eyes full of wrath. Instantly, the point of Kratos sword was at his throat. "You bastard. You tore apart my family, forced me to relive killing my wife, and you almost killed my son. If you like torture so much, you'll love where your going next." And in one swift stroke, Kratos removed Orois' head.

Lloyd settled to the ground next to his father. "It's over, isn't it?"

"Sometimes, son, it's never over." Said Kratos solemnly.

The severed head on the ground offered no response.

--

**You know, I could easily end it there. But, I'm not. There's an epilogue coming up, and then this thing's come to a close. By the way, I'm trashing Heart Sword and Soul. I've realized it takes a very good author to write a self-insert that isn't completely lame, and I'm just not there yet. Don't worry, I'm not trashing it so much as recycling it. I'm rewriting it without the self-insertion part.**

**A thank-you to the people whose personas I borrowed and abused for the sake of this story. I pray you are satisfied with the result.**

**- ZZ**


	14. Epilogue Until We Meet Again

**Hello again!**

**I think that I may be setting a record here with my update speed. I'm sorry to report that this is the end. My eternal gratitude to all who read my story, and the same one hundredfold to those of you kind enough to leave a review.**

**I'd like to let you know that there was a sort of glitch when this chapter was first loaded. My computer, for reasons that I suppose will remain forever unknown, my computer ate three-fourths of the epilogue. So for those of you who wonder why there was such a strange ending, I hope that this answers your questions.**

**Standard Disclaimers Apply.**

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Two Worlds, One Soul

Epilogue – Until We Meet Again

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The company walked slowly through the empty corridors, their feet echoing hollowly in the deserted chambers. It seemed that with the fall of the Orois, all his henchmen had evaporated. They weren't complaining by any means, but it was strange nonetheless.

"So now that he's finally gone…how long are you planning on staying?" Aaron. Kenshin's sword bumped softly against his leg as he walked.

"Well, I'd assume that if Origin has power enough to blow Orois through the glass wall like that, he has enough power to send us home." Said Sheena.

"So you're just up and leaving?" asked Sam.

"Come on, you can stay one more night, can't you? We all need rest from the fight." Said Kyle.

"You said it…I'm beat." Said Lloyd, heaving an overdramatic sigh and only partially faking an exhausted stagger.

"What say you?" Asked Aaron, indicating the company in general. He received a chorus of replies ranging from Kratos' indifferent "…" to Zelos' hearty cry of "Yahoo! Party at Aaron's house!"

"Oh, brother…" Said Sam, rolling her eyes.

--------------------

As they passed the armory door again, Lloyd once again stopped and went inside.

"What are we doing here again?" asked Genis.

"I just thought that it would be a shame to leave all these weapons here, y'know?" said Lloyd. He shrugged. "Orois doesn't need them."

Yuan got out his bladecase. "All right, we'll take as many as this can hold. Choose carefully, we'll most likely not be able to take them all."

They made their way around the room, picking and choosing, and depositing their finds in the case. Lloyd had more than a little bit of fun putting in a twelve-foot spear. They pushed it into the case, and it just kept going in and in and in. He knew it was going to do that, but it was rather cool to watch.

After they had forced everything that was possible into the little case, the room was actually completely clear. There had been several items that they hadn't put into the bag, but those were small enough to be carried.

"Well, that's that." Said Lloyd, as they left the empty room. "Now this place can blow up and there won't e anything lost."

The company went buggeyed. "BLOW UP!"

"Yeah, when I was looking at Orois' computer up there, I set it to self destruct." Said Lloyd. He cast a smug look at the professor, who was gaping at him.

"Wow, Lloyd, you're as smart as the professor!" chirped Colette.

"Wow…I never even thought that Lloyd could be smart enough to use a calculator, much less a computer." Said Genis.

"Huh? Computer? Nah, I just pressed a big red button that said 'Do Not Press. Ever.' and then this message popped up on the screen that said 'Self-Destruct Activated'"

They sweatdropped. "Typical Lloyd." Sighed Sheena.

Yuan looked nervous. "And precisely how long did it say we have to get out of here?"

Lloyd thought for a moment. "I'd say we've got about five minutes left."

They gaped at him again, then took off as is Orois himself was behind them. As they ran, both Kratos and Raine were whacking Lloyd's head and wondering where they had gone wrong with him.

"Uh, Lloyd? Eternal Sword us outta here before we all get blown to Kingdom Come, please!" Shouted Aaron.

Lloyd instantly conjured up the blade and held it in front of him like a lance. The he stabbed forward and carved it upwards. In its wake was a rift in the air, and Lloyd ran through it without hesitation. (Think Golden Tiger Claws) They followed, and found themselves on the same hill they had initially arrived from, and as the final member jumped from the hole in space, the structure began to shudder. Thirty long seconds later, it was consumed in a blinding flash of flame. When they could see again, there was nothing but ash and shards of blackened chrome.

"Shall we?" asked Kyle.

Lloyd sliced another rift in space, and they were gone.

--------------------

The group stumbled into Aaron and Sam's living room, and the portal faded.

"All right, guys…Let's just go to bed. We'll talk in the morning." Said Sam.

To tired to debate, they just stumbled off to beds.

--------------------

Kratos' sleep was deep and fitful for much of the night. He felt as though the giant weight that had been dragging at him for the past few days was suddenly removed. His sanity was intact, and so was his family. There truly were such things as happy endings after all.

_Do not make such assumptions, Kratos Aurion. You know better than most how easily it is to deceive._

'What? Who?' Kratos found himself standing on a rocky platform, which itself was floating over an abyss of endless blackness. 'Show yourself!'

_I am already here, but to your eyes I am formless in my present state._

Kratos nevertheless found himself straining his vision to find the source of the voice.

_All is not as it seems, Kratos Aurion. Powers greater than yourself are at work here. This is the calm before the storm, Kratos Aurion. Be ready…or be destroyed._

'What do you mean?' asked Kratos, 'Who are you?'

_A power that was created…a power that was resurrected… and a power that was imprisoned since the dawn of time…_

'And which question does that answer?'

_In more than one way, it is more than one answer, Kratos Aurion…_

'You speak in riddles.'

_It is a curse, I'm afraid…My time runs short. I must leave before I am sensed here…Goodbye for now, Kratos Aurion._

The dream faded to blackness.

--------------------

As the company arose the following morning, they slowly made their way into the kitchen, where Kyle and Aaron were helping Genis and Regal make a giant breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, and scrambled eggs. The smell was absolutely entrancing, and it had them all salivating. They all dug in, and friendly conversation filled the room and they all laughed easily. Even Kratos, mystified as he was about the dream, found himself roaring with laughter over the antics of Zelos. He was attempting to get the maple syrup out of the bottle and accidentally squirted it all over Sheena. When she leapt to her feet, Aaron got up, pushed her back into her seat, and confiscated the syrup from Zelos.

"No fighting today, even between you two." He said.

"But Aaron…" Sheena grumbled, indicating the sugary goodness that was now soaking into her shinobi robes.

"Should I let her?" Aaron asked the world in general.

"YEAH!" cried the group.

"Just this once, I suppose. It's only fair that she pays you back, Zelos." Chuckled Sam.

"Don't I get a say in this?" asked Zelos mournfully.

"No!" remarked Sheena cheerfully, and squished his face into his plate of syrup-soaked pancakes.

Zelos sat up slowly, his face covered in butter and his hair drenched in syrup. Sheena erupted in laughter, but soon received a spoonful of scrambled eggs in her face. She immediately seized a handful of sausage like kunai, but Aaron caught her wrist before she could throw. Kratos relieved Zelos of his plate and his makeshift catapult.

"I believe that we said no fighting?" Kratos said, almost sweetly.

He immediately got a pancake in his face.

There was no stopping it now, the war was on. Breakfast flew around the room in an unrelenting storm. Everything was dripping syrup, butter, and bacon grease. For ten minutes pancakes fell like rain and even Yuan got into it. Then everyone settled down and sat back to rest and observe the damage.

There was syrup and food everywhere. It reminded Aaron of the pool deck after the swim team's Ice Cream Party (And resultant Senior's Chocolate Sauce Free-For-All). Don't ask, not a pretty sight.

"I told you people that something bad was going to happen if we got to infighting." Grumbled Aaron.

"Oh come on…that was the most fun I've had since I got here!" said Lloyd, grinning and licking his fingers.

"All right…if we're going to ever get this cleaned up, we're going to need your help." Said Sam.

-------------------

Hours and several castings of Spread and Tidal Wave (at much-reduced pressures and volumes) the kitchen and its occupants were finally clean. They also managed to repair the dart holes in furniture and walls, fix the broken windows, and patch the hole in the garage wall. It was about two when anyone felt like doing much of anything again.

"Well, thanks so much for your help fixing this place up," said Sam, sinking deep into a leather recliner.

"It was the least we could do. After all…it was our fault that the damage was done anyways." Said Kratos.

A few more minutes passed. "Hey guys…" said Kyle.

"Yes?" asked Raine.

"You want to have a party?"

"What for?" asked Yuan.

"Who cares? It's a party!" cried Zelos. He and Lloyd started cheering.

"Ahem." They quieted. "Why? To thank you guys. You, who we never in our wildest dreams believed we would be able to meet, suddenly appear out of nowhere and take us along on the adventure of a lifetime. Besides." Aaron grinned, "do you really want to just up and leave without some celebration for vanquishing a dreaded foe?"

"I suppose not…" said Kratos.

"It can't hurt." Said Sheena. Aaron noticed something odd in her voice. Was it…reluctance?

"As long as you don't expect me to dance." Yuan grumbled.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun!" said Colette, her eyes bright.

Yuan harrumphed dismissively.

"You're no fun. Why don't you live a little, you old coot!" said Lloyd, deadpan.

He and Genis were joined in uproarious laughter at the expression on Yuan's face.

--------------------

In half an hour, Genis and Regal brought out an assortment of snack foods for the party. Lloyd was instantly salivating over a giant platter of nachos and cheese and had to be dragged away by Kratos before he busted his suspenders. Colette and Zelos found the whole affair highly amusing.

Aaron and Kyle put together a collection of music that ranged from Nickelback to Queen to even favorites from the ToS soundtrack. Sam held up a CD of slowdance music and pointed to Lloyd and Colette, then Genis and Presea, then Zelos and Sheena. The three of them laughed conspiratorially to themselves, though Aaron had a strange dubious expression on his face at the last one.

Soon the furniture was cleared from the dining room and the stereo was set up on the impromptu dance floor. Aaron raised his hands like a conductor, counted off with his fingers and called loudly, "And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three! HIT IT!" He flicked the switch and the music started on. The group immediately fell into party mode and the enjoyment lasted many long hours. There was tons of soda, and Lloyd drank himself nearly sick. Zelos complained loudly about the lack of alcohol, but was silenced by a dagger glare from Raine.

"Personally, Zelos, I don't trust you when you're sober. I'd hate to see you drunk." Said Sheena. Zelos mimed being stabbed in the heart.

"You slay me, my voluptuous hunny!" said Zelos, gasping in mock pain.

"Just for once, could you stay slayed for a little while?" grumbled Sheena.

The night went on.

--------------------

"Hey…look at that." Whispered Sam in Raine's ear. She pointed to the couch. Over the backrest, they could see Lloyd and Colette (The backs of their heads, at least) sitting very close together on the couch. They spoke in hushed tones, and blushed or giggled every so often. As they watched, Lloyd put his arm around Colette and she snuggled against him.

At the same time, on the opposite side of the room, Genis and Presea were engaged in a conversation that was making even Presea's face tinge a faint pink. The young mage stuttered out something to the axegirl, and she smiled almost knowingly and whispered something in his ear. Genis stared at her in a mixture of shock, amazement, and apparently extreme happiness for several moments before Presea broke his trance by taking his hand in hers.

"I told you so…" said Aaron. "All it would take was a change in atmosphere and he would do it."

"Right. And the fact that she saved his life has absolutely _nothing_ to do with it," said Kyle. They grinned anyways.

Regal, Yuan, and Kratos were standing together on the dance floor, sipping sodas and talking amongst themselves. The music prevented their words from reaching the others, and no one wanted to intrude upon what seemed to be an intensely personal conversation.

The terrans and Zelos convened at the stereo. Sam waved the slowdance CD, and the others nodded in hearty agreement.

"Maybe now my voluptuous honey will dance with me!" said Zelos, heart-eyed.

Sam stopped the music and called out to the group. "Please clear the floor, the next couple songs will be for just that, couples! I repeat, the next several songs are _for couples only!"_ she inserted the disc and presses 'play'.

As Kratos, Regal and Yuan moved off the dance floor, Lloyd and Colette moved on. As they embraced and began to slowly sway to the beat, Presea came on with the crimson-faced but smiling Genis.

Sheena even allowed Zelos to dance with her, but "Only for one song, and if I catch your eyes anywhere but my face and your hands anywhere but my waist, I swear I'll…" she let her expression (and razor-edged cards) finish the sentiment for her.

Off to the side, Sam and Raine were having a heated debate with Yuan, Kratos and Regal. The three men protested dancing, seeing as they 'had promised themselves to only one' and would not join in now that their loved ones were gone. Sam would take none of it, and soon Kratos found himself on the dance floor in Sam's arms, and discovered that he enjoyed it despite himself.

Raine, as it turned out, was determined to give the stubborn men a good time whether they wanted it or not. Aaron caught something about 'not wanting you to be boring sticks-in-the-mud for the rest of your lives,' and it was enough for him. She took Yuan first, and after the song swapped him for Regal, who had actually been dancing with Presea. It was comical, to say the least, to watch the towering CEO attempt to dance with the diminutive axegirl, and they were all laughing. Except Genis, of course.

Aaron and Kyle stayed largely off the floor, neither being comfortable at such events, and to be truthful, a little bit intimidated by the company. Aaron noticed that Sheena had disappeared after dancing with Zelos and then Lloyd, so when Kyle was picked up by Colette, he went to find her.

--------------------

"Sheena?" he said. He looked into the kitchen, but there was no sign of her. He shrugged, and then went to look outside on the deck. There he found her, looking up at the stars. She looked back when the door opened, and motioned for him to come out and join her.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, leaning over the railing next to her. "You're missing the party."

She was silent for a moment. "I'm just not comfortable at these sort of things. My whole training in Mizuho was 'conceal yourself in shadows, stay hidden, never reveal yourself'. After a life like that, it's rather difficult to adopt yourself for social interaction. I always hated it when my diplomatic duty forced me to those Royal balls…I never fit in, never felt right."

"Hmm…I suppose I know what you mean." He murmured. At her odd look, he continued. "Not the ninja training, the party thing. Something never feels right about it. Something's…I don't know, missing." He paused. He thought back to the school dances, and how he had always thought that he didn't really belong there. He and Sheena talked for God-knew-how-long. Then, they just got quiet, staring out into the night.

After a time, Aaron looked up towards the sky and asked quietly. "Do you think that we'll ever see each other again?"

She blushed lightly, but then it faded when she asked, "The entire group, or us two in particular?"

It returned when Aaron answered, "Both, I think." He paused for a moment. In the quiet, Sheena asked,

"This whole ordeal must have been incredibly strange to you guys. I mean, we show up out of the blue and drag you off on a crazy adventure to stop a crazy madman on a rampage…what was it like?"

"What was it like?" he echoed, "It made me question my sanity at first. I mean, I never once expected the people I enjoyed so much time with on a TV screen to suddenly end up standing in my living room. I never would have dreamed that I would end up adventuring with them and discovering that one of my favorite graphic novels could be used as a history book. I never in my wildest dreams anticipated spending time with people that I had only wished were real before." He paused for breath, "It makes you wonder if there really is a higher power out there."

"Do you believe in one?"

"I like to think so. What about Martel? Is she still a Goddess to you?"

"I don't even know anymore. It turned out that the Goddess was a twisted tale spun by a madman, and then she was resurrected as part of a Summon Spirit… it'll take me a while to sort it all out. What power holds your faith?"

"Destiny." He said simply. "How else could anything this incredible actually have happened?"

"Destiny, huh?" she smiled and stared off into the night.

"So…do you think we'll meet again?" he asked.

When she turned back to him, there was a smirk on her face. "I suppose that all depends…on destiny." She said cryptically. They laughed. "That, or a certain thick-headed swordsman with the power to alter reality." They laughed again.

"Okay, now you're just teasing me." he chuckled.

"But really. I think that we will see each other again."

After a moment of silence, there came another voice. "Hey, you lovebirds…it's the last chance to have a dance!" they jumped in surprise and ended up in each other's arms. Without noticing their position, they yelled in unison, "We are _not!_"

Zelos looked pointedly at them. "_Suuuuuure _you aren't."

They looked back at each other and jumped apart. "Shall we?" asked Aaron.

"It'd be a sin not to." Said Sheena. And together, they punched Zelos' lights out.

---------------------

As they waited for Zelos to recover, they said their goodbyes. When at last they were ready to go, Yuan reached into a pouch on his belt and removed three rounded crystal pendants on silver chains. He handed one each to Sam, Aaron, and Kyle.

There was a rune-carved band of silver around the base. Yuan explained that they were communication devices, and soon all of the company would carry them. They were activated by speaking your name and a special password of the owner's choosing. They could then speak to anyone else who held one.

Sheena shot Aaron a look that said _See? I told you._

Then, while dragging the semi-conscious Zelos, Lloyd created a rift in space and they stepped into it. In a flash of white light, they were gone. The music in the background slowly faded out.

"Na na na na. Na na na na. Hey, hey, hey…goodbyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye…"

They were silent for a time. Kyle finally breached it. "You realize that no one is ever going to believe us…"

"I don't even have pictures, darn it!" grumbled Sam.

"Does it matter what other people think? We know what happened. That's enough for me." said Aaron, fingering the pendant. One word kept echoing in his mind.

_Destiny…_

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**Well, that's that. Personally, I don't like parts of this anywhere near as much as the first time, but that's what happens when the computer eats your files. **

**By the way, you know the plot overhaul I did on Heart Soul and Sword? Well, I'm going to take that and make it into the sequel to Two Worlds, One Soul. Don't expect it for a little while, but it is coming, I promise.**

**Sheena/Aaron? Possibly. I'm really not sure at this point, that whole scene just sort of happened. It was really there to foreshadow something completely different in the next one.  
**

**See you all next time. **

**-ZZ**


End file.
